morceau

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word morceau. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word morceau, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say morceau in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word morceau you have here. The definition of the word morceau will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofmorceau, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

From French morceau, from Old French morsel, from Medieval Latin morsellum (“a bit, a little piece”), diminutive of Latin morsum (“a bit”), neuter of morsus, past participle of mordeō, mordēre (“bite, nibble, gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to rub, wipe; to pack, rob”). Doublet of morsel.

Pronunciation

Noun

morceau (plural morceaus or morceaux)

  1. A small bit; a morsel or snippet.
    • 1816, Henry Coxe, The Traveller's Guide in Switzerland:
      M. De Luc has a specimen of the uranite (Peckblend) mixed with titan and crystals of quartz, a morceau of singular beauty
    • 1796, John Owen, Travels Into Different Parts of Europe :
      Amongſt a variety of urns, sepulchral fragments, and different morceaus of antiquity, are the known and celebrated buſts of Alexander the Great, and Brutus

Synonyms

References

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French morceau, from Old French morsel (whence also English morsel), from Early Medieval Latin morsellum (“a bit, a little piece”), diminutive of Latin morsum (“a bit”), neuter of morsus, past participle of mordeō, mordēre (“bite, nibble, gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to rub, wipe; to pack, rob”).

Pronunciation

Noun

morceau m (plural morceaux)

  1. piece, slice, bit, morsel
  2. (music) piece, work
    manger le morceau ― to fess up, spill the beans
  3. (Quebec, slang) gun, piece

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → English: morceau

Further reading

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French morsel.

Noun

morceau m (plural morceaux or morceaulx)

  1. bit; piece

Descendants

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia