morsel

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.

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

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• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)səl

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.
3. A very small amount.
   • 2008, Pamela Griffin, New York Brides, Barbour Publishing Inc., →ISBN, page 70:

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

• See also Thesaurus:modicum.

• morselize, morselization

• mordant
• remorse

• morsel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• morsel in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• “morsel”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “morsel”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• Merlos, Morels, morels, smoler

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

Borrowed from Old French morsel, morsiel, morcel.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔrsəl/

morsel (plural morsels)

1. small piece of food

• English: morsel
• Yola: mossaale

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

• morcel

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”).

• IPA^(key): /murˈsɛl/

morsel 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

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