morsel
/ˈmɔɹsəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.59 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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; […]"
- "Didn't even a morsel of decency remain in his brother?"
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmɔɹsəl/
- British English: /ˈmɔːsəl/