morsel

English

Etymology

From Middle English morsel, from Old French morsel, from Medieval Latin morsellum (“a bit, a little piece”), diminutive of Latin morsum (“a bit”), neuter of morsus, perfect passive participle of mordeo (“I bite”). Compare French morceau.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔːsəl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔɹsəl/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)səl

Noun

morsel (plural morsels)

1. A small fragment or share of something, commonly applied to food.
   • 1979, Roald Dahl, The Twits:

     By sticking out his tongue and curling it sideways to explore the hairy jungle around his mouth, he was always able to find a tasty morsel here and there to nibble on.

2. A mouthful of food.
   • 1644, James Howell, England’s Teares, for the Present Wars, , London: Richard Heron, →OCLC, page 4:

     Me thinks I ſee the Turke nodding vvith his Turban, and telling me that I ſhould thanke Heaven for that diſtance vvhich is betvvixt us, els he vvould ſvvallovv me all up at one morſell; […]

3. A very small amount.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:modicum

   • 2008, Pamela Griffin, New York Brides, Barbour Publishing, →ISBN, page 70:

     Didn't even a morsel of decency remain in his brother?

Derived terms

• morselization
• morselize
• Adam's morsel

Related terms

• mordant
• remorse

Translations

Further reading

• “morsel”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “morsel”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “morsel”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “morsel”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Verb

morsel (third-person singular simple present morsels, present participle morseling or morselling, simple past and past participle morseled or morselled)

1. (transitive) To divide into small pieces.

   Synonym: morselize

2. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To feed with small pieces of food.

Anagrams

• Merlos, Morels, morels, smoler

Middle English

Alternative forms

• morselle, morsille, morssel, morscel, morcelle, mursel

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French morsel, morsiel, morcel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔrsəl/

Noun

morsel (plural morsels)

1. small piece of food

Descendants

• English: morsel
• Yola: mossaale

References

• “morsel, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old French

Alternative forms

• morcel

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /muɾˈsɛl/

Noun

morsel oblique singular, m (oblique plural morseaus or morseax or morsiaus or morsiax or morsels, nominative singular morseaus or morseax or morsiaus or morsiax or morsels, nominative plural morsel)

1. morsel; bit; piece

Descendants

• English: morsel
• French: morceau
• Norman: morcé (Jersey, Guernsey)
• Hungarian: morzsa