morsel
noun/ˈmɔːsəl/UK/ˈmɔɹsəl/US
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 (“to bite”). Compare French morceau, whence the English doublet morceau.
Definitions
A small fragment or share of something, commonly applied to food.
- 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.
- If a morsel of food fell off your plate, the advice of one contemporary document was to pick it up, make the sign of the cross over it, season it well - and then eat it.
A mouthful of food.
- 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; […]
A very small amount.
- Didn't even a morsel of decency remain in his brother?
›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer
To divide into small pieces.
To feed with small pieces of food.
The neighborhood
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for morsel. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA