morsel

M3O1R1S1E1L1
UK/ˈmɔːsəl/US/ˈmɔɹsəl/

noun

A small fragment or share of something, commonly applied to food.

Similar
aceatomthoughtatomyaughtbisselcontinentalbit
OriginMiddle English morsel ← Old French morsel ← Medieval Latin morsellum →
UncommonScrabble 8
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Meanings

nounmorsel (plural morsels)

plural morsels · alternative morcel

  1. 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.

    1979, Roald Dahl, The Twits
    1 more example

    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.

    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
  2. 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; […]

    1644, James Howell, England’s Teares, for the Present Wars, […], London: […] Richard Heron, →OCLC, page 4
  3. A very small amount.

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

    2008, Pamela Griffin, New York Brides, Barbour Publishing, →ISBN, page 70

    Synonyms: ace, atom, thought, atomy, aught, bissel, continental, bit

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

present singular third person morsels · US participle present morseling · UK participle present morselling · US participle past morseled · US past morseled · UK participle past morselled · UK past morselled · alternative morcel

  1. transitiveTo divide into small pieces.

    Synonyms: morselize

  2. obsoleteraretransitiveTo feed with small pieces of food.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA very small amount.

Similar
aceatomthoughtatomyaughtbisselcontinentalbitcrumbglimpsedabdamndashdiddlyglintdotspatterdropdustingfleck

verbTo divide into small pieces.

Similar
morselize

More synonyms by meaning

nouna small amount of solid food; a mouthful

Similar
bitbite
Broader
tastemouthful
Also see
bitbitecrumb

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinmorsum“a bit”
  2. Medieval Latinmorsellum“a bit, a little piece”
  3. Old Frenchmorsel
  4. Middle Englishmorsel
  5. Englishmorsel

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.

More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans morsel
  • morselsmall fragment
Ancient Greek ψωμός, βλωμός
  • ψωμός (psōmós)small fragment
  • βλωμός (blōmós)small fragment
  • ἄκολος (ákolos)small fragment
Arabic قَطْمَة
  • قَطْمَة (qaṭma)small fragment
Bulgarian хапка, залък
  • хапка (hapka)small fragment
  • залък (zalăk)small fragment
Catalan pessic, mica
  • pessicsmall fragment
  • micasmall fragment
  • mossmall fragment
  • polsimsmall fragment
  • gotasmall fragment
  • mosa mouthful of food
Czech sousto, kousek
  • soustosmall fragment
  • kouseksmall fragment
  • kousíčeksmall fragment
Danish bid, godbid
  • bidsmall fragment
  • godbidsmall fragment
  • stumpsmall fragment
Dutch brok, hap
  • broksmall fragment
  • hapsmall fragment
  • stuksmall fragment
Esperanto mordaĵo
  • mordaĵoa mouthful of food
Finnish murunen, muru
  • murunensmall fragment
  • murusmall fragment
  • palasmall fragment
French morceau, morceau de nourriture
  • morceausmall fragment
  • morceau de nourriturea mouthful of food
German Happen, Happen
  • Happensmall fragment
  • Happena mouthful of food
  • Bissena mouthful of food
Hindi कौर
  • कौर (kaur)small fragment
Irish blúire
  • blúiresmall fragment
Italian boccone
  • bocconesmall fragment
Latin frustum, mīca
  • frustumsmall fragment
  • mīcasmall fragment
Malay cebis
  • cebissmall fragment
Māori motū, whakapūwharu
  • motūsmall fragment
  • whakapūwharusmall fragment
  • horotaismall fragment
Persian لقمه, تیکه
  • لقمه (loqme)small fragment
  • تیکه (tikke)small fragment
Portuguese porção, gota
  • porçãosmall fragment
  • gotasmall fragment
  • mordidasmall fragment
Russian кусо́к, по́рция
  • кусо́к (kusók)small fragment
  • по́рция (pórcija)small fragment
Spanish pizca, porción
  • pizcasmall fragment
  • porciónsmall fragment
  • gotasmall fragment
Swedish smula
  • smulasmall fragment
Turkish dilim, parça
  • dilimsmall fragment
  • parçasmall fragment
  • lokmaa mouthful of food
  • sokuma mouthful of food

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with morsel

dorsalanterodorsalapicodorsalbasidorsalbasodorsalbidorsalcaudodorsalcentrodorsalcervicodorsalcraniodorsaldistodorsaldorselholodorsalinterdorsalintermediodorsallabiodorsallaterodorsallumbodorsalmediodorsalmesiodorsalmiddorsalnondorsaloculodorsalpostdorsal
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

morsel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morsel

MLA

“morsel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morsel. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “morsel,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morsel.

Source: morsel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.