Other forms: morsels
A morsel is a small piece of food. A tasty morsel, not a morsel left, a morsel of bread.
It is smaller than a mouthful and always singular in feel. Not a morsel is the fixed phrase for nothing left at all. Figuratively a morsel is a small piece of anything desirable: a morsel of information, a morsel of comfort. Note that the Latin behind it means a bite, from mordere, which also gives remorse — literally a biting back.
1nounmorselA small piece of food.
“The dog waited under the table, hoping for a morsel of chicken.”
2nounanythingFiguratively, a small piece of anything desirable that is not food — of news, of information, of comfort.
“The reporters waited outside the hospital for any morsel of news.”
morsel is a small piece.
Old French morsel is a diminutive of Latin morsum, a bite, from mordere, to bite. Remorse and mordant come from the same biting.
Proto-Indo-European
*(s)merd-
Latin
morsum — a bit
Medieval Latin
morsellum — a bit, a little piece
Old French
morsel
Middle English
morsel
English, today
morsel
Built from
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 a doublet of morceau.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA