different between morsel vs smidgen
morsel
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)
- 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.
- 1979, Roald Dahl, The Twits
- A mouthful of food.
- 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?
- 2008, Pamela Griffin, New York Brides, Barbour Publishing Inc. (2008), ?ISBN, page 70:
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)
- 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)
- morsel; bit; piece
Descendants
- English: morsel
- French: morceau
- Norman: morcé (Jersey, Guernsey)
- Hungarian: morzsa
morsel From the web:
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smidgen
English
Alternative forms
- smidge, smidgeon, smidget, smidgin
Etymology
Likely based on a variant of smeddum (“fine powder”), influenced by Scots smitch (“stain, speck”). Confer Northumbrian dialectal English smiddum (“small particle of lead ore; smitham”). Scots smitch may derive from an unattested synonym of Old English sm?tan (“to daub, smear, smudge”): *sm?cgan (“to soil, stain, taint, blacken”). If so, then cognate with smudge.
Alternate etymology connects smidgeon with Scottish Gaelic smidin (“small syllable”), though this is highly improbable considering the implied semantic shift that would have to have occurred.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?sm?d???n/
- Rhymes: -?d??n, -?d??n
Noun
smidgen (plural smidgens)
- A very small quantity or amount.
- Synonyms: hair's breadth; see also Thesaurus:modicum
Usage notes
Some cookbooks and manufacturers of kitchen measurement sets have attempted to define a smidgen for recipes. Anything between 1?25 and 1?48 of a teaspoon may be found, 1?32 being perhaps the most commonly used. Other commonly used measures for small amounts include tad, dash, pinch, and drop. There seems to be some consensus of tad being the largest in this set and a smidgen being larger than a drop but smaller than a pinch.
Translations
References
Anagrams
- Demings, Dengism
smidgen From the web:
- smidgen meaning
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- what does smidgen mean in english
- what do smidgen meaning
- what does smitten mean
- what does smidgen mean in a sentence
- what is smidgen of salt
- what is smidgen used for
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