morceau
English edit
Etymology edit
From French morceau, 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 mordeō, mordēre (“bite, nibble, gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to rub, wipe; to pack, rob”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
morceau (plural morceaus or morceaux)
- A small bit; a morsel or snippet.
- 1816, Henry Coxe, The Traveller's Guide in Switzerlan:
- M. De Luc has a specimen of the uranite (Peckblend) mixed with titan and crystals of quartz, a morceau of singular beauty
- 1796, John Owen, Travels Into Different Parts of Europe […] :
- Amongſt a variety of urns, sepulchral fragments, and different morceaus of antiquity, are the known and celebrated buſts of Alexander the Great, and Brutus
Synonyms edit
References edit
- “morceau”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old French morsel (whence also English morsel), from Medieval Latin morsellum (“a bit, a little piece”), diminutive of Latin morsum (“a bit”), neuter of morsus, past participle of mordeō, mordēre (“bite, nibble, gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to rub, wipe; to pack, rob”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
morceau m (plural morceaux)
- piece, slice, bit, morsel
- (music) piece, work
- manger le morceau ― to fess up, spill the beans
- (Quebec, slang) gun, piece
Derived terms edit
- emporter le morceau
- en morceaux
- en mille morceaux
- en un seul morceau
- cracher le morceau
- lâcher le morceau
- manger un morceau
- recoller les morceaux
- (piece): mcx (abbreviation)
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “morceau”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.