英和和英

語源

From 中期英語 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.

発音

• (英国発音) IPA: /ˈmɔːsəl/
• (米国発音) IPA: /ˈmɔɹsəl/
• 韻: -ɔː(ɹ)səl

名詞

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.

   • 1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 122:

     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.

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?

派生語

• morselization
• morselize
• Adam's morsel

関連する語

• mordant
• remorse

Further reading

• “morsel”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “morsel”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “morsel”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “morsel”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

動詞

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

1. (transitive) To divide into small pieces.

   Synonym: morselize

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

アナグラム

• Merlos, Morels, morels, smoler

語源

Borrowed from Old French morsel, morsiel, morcel, from Medieval Latin morsellum.

発音

• IPA: /mɔrˈsɛl/, /ˈmɔrsəl/, /murˈsɛl/, /ˈmursəl/
• (with assimilation) IPA: /mɔˈsɛl/, /ˈmɔsəl/, /muˈsɛl/, /ˈmusəl/

名詞

morsel (plural morsels)

1. A small piece or fragment of something; a morsel.
   1. (especially) A piece of food; a bite or mouthful.
   2. (figuratively) Something delicate predated upon or enjoyed.
2. A snack; a small meal.

派生した語

• English: morsel (dialectal mossel, mossle)
• Middle Scots: morcell, morsall
  • Scots: morsel
• Yola: mossaale

参照

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