different between department vs morsel

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French département.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d??p??tm(?)nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /d??p??tm?nt/
• Hyphenation: de?part?ment

Noun

department (plural departments)

1. A part, portion, or subdivision.
2. A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like.
3. A specified aspect or quality.

   The 2012 Boston Marathon was outstanding in the temperature department; runners endured temperatures of no less than 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. A subdivision of an organization.
   1. (often in proper names) One of the principal divisions of executive government

      the Treasury Department; the Department of Agriculture; police department

   2. (in a university) One of the divisions of instructions

      the physics department; the gender studies department

5. A territorial division; a district; especially, in France, one of the districts into which the country is divided for governmental purposes, similar to a county in the UK and in the USA. France is composed of 101 départements organized in 18 régions, each department is divided into arrondissements, in turn divided into cantons.
   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to the 1715-99, Penguin 2003, p. 427:

     The departments were the bricks from which the edifice of the nation was to be constructed.

6. (historical) A military subdivision of a country

7. (obsolete) Act of departing; departure.
   • 1624, Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture

     sudden 'departments from one extreame to another

Synonyms

• (distinct course): province, specialty
• (division of executive government): ministry

Derived terms

• departmental
• departmentally
• Department of Redundancy Department
• department store
• fire department
• interdepartmental
• police department
• state department
• trouser department

Translations

See also

• province
• state

English

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, past participle of mordere (“to bite”). Compare French morceau.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?m??s?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?m??s?l/
• Rhymes: -??(?)s?l

Noun

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.

2. A mouthful of food.
3. A very small amount.
   • 2008, Pamela Griffin, New York Brides, Barbour Publishing Inc. (2008), ?ISBN, page 70:

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

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:modicum.

Derived terms

• morselize, morselization

Related terms

• mordant
• remorse

Translations

Further reading

• morsel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• morsel in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “morsel”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “morsel”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• Merlos, Morels, morels, smoler

Middle English

Alternative forms

• morselle, morsille, morssel, morscel, morcelle, mursel

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French morsel, morsiel, morcel.

Noun

morsel (plural morsels)

1. small piece of food

Descendants

• English: morsel
• Yola: mossaale

References

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

Old French

Alternative forms

• morcel

Etymology

From Medieval Latin morsellum (“a bit, a little piece”), diminutive of Latin morsum (“a bit”), neuter of morsus, past participle of morde?, mord?re (“bite, nibble, gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer?- (“to rub, wipe; to pack, rob”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mur?s?l/

Noun

morsel m (oblique plural morseaus or morseax or morsiaus or morsiax or morsels, nominative singular morseaus or morseax or morsiaus or morsiax or morsels, nominative plural morsel)

1. morsel; bit; piece

Descendants

• English: morsel
• French: morceau
• Norman: morcé (Jersey, Guernsey)
• Hungarian: morzsa