Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
Morsel — Mor sel, n. [OF. morsel, F. morceau, LL. morsellus, a dim. fr. L. morsus a biting, bite, fr. mordere to bite; prob. akin to E. smart. See {Smart}, and cf. {Morceau}, {Mordant}, {Muse}, v., {Muzzle}, n.] 1. A little bite or bit of food. Chaucer.… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
morsel — (n.) late 13c., a bite, mouthful; small piece, fragment, from O.Fr. morsel (Mod.Fr. morceau) small bite, portion, helping, dim. of mors a bite, from L. morsus biting, a bite, neuter pp. of mordere to bite (see MORDANT (Cf. mordant)) … Etymology dictionary
morsel — index iota, minimum Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
morsel — [n] tiny piece bait, bit, bite, chunk, crumb, cut, delicacy, drop, fraction, fragment, grain, hunk, lump, mouthful, nibble, nosh, part, sample, scrap, segment, slice, snack, soupçon, taste, tidbit, treat; concepts 457,458,831,835 Ant. lot … New thesaurus
morsel — ► NOUN ▪ a small piece of food; a mouthful. ORIGIN Old French, little bite … English terms dictionary
morsel — [môr′səl] n. [OFr, dim. of mors < L morsum, a bite, piece < pp. of mordere, to bite: see MORDANT] 1. a small bite or portion of food 2. a small piece or amount; bit 3. a tasty dish vt. to divide into or distribute in small portions … English World dictionary
morsel — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ choice, delicious, juicy, tasty (all often figurative) ▪ a juicy morsel of gossip ▪ little, tiny … Collocations dictionary
morsel — mor|sel [ˈmo:səl US ˈmo:r ] n [Date: 1200 1300; : Old French; Origin: mors bite , from Latin mordere; MORDANT] a very small amount of something, especially a small piece of food = ↑scrap morsel of ▪ a morsel of bread ▪ a morsel of scandal ▪ … Dictionary of contemporary English
morsel — noun (C) 1 a small piece of food (+ of): a morsel of bread | tasty morsels 2 morsel of hope/wisdom/gossip etc a small amount of hope etc: That s the best morsel of scandal we ve had for ages … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
morsel — [13] Etymologically, a morsel is a piece ‘bitten’ off. The word comes from Old French morsel, a diminutive of mors ‘bite’. This in turn goes back to Latin morsus, a derivative of the same base as the verb mordēre ‘bite’. Other English words from… … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins
morsel — [[t]mɔ͟ː(r)s(ə)l[/t]] morsels N COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n A morsel is a very small amount of something, especially a very small piece of food. ...a delicious little morsel of meat. Syn: scrap … English dictionary
