| 释义 |
morseln. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French morsel. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French morsel (c1120 in Old French; also in Anglo-Norman in forms mossel , musel , mussel ; French morceau morceau n.) < mors a bite (see morse n.1) + -el -el suffix2. Compare post-classical Latin morsellus (from 12th cent. in British sources), morcellus (early 13th cent. in a British source), morsellum (1480), Italian morsello (a1276).The form mersel apparently shows alteration for the purposes of rhyme (see quot. 1944 at sense 1f). Apparently attested as a surname in England from the late 12th cent., as Willielmo Morsel (1166), Robertus Morsel (1188), Elyas Morsell (1214), Richard Morsel (1278), and Roger Morsel (1304), though it is unclear whether these are to be interpreted as Middle English or Anglo-Norman. 1. the world > food and drink > food > amounts of food > [noun] > small quantity the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part > a piece or bit > small piece c1300 St. Vincent (Laud) 144 in C. Horstmann (1887) 188 (MED) Ne miȝte þare come none..þat o mossel þarof nome. c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) 7028 Þe mossel he dude in to is mouþ..Hit bileuede amidde is þrote. a1382 (Bodl. 959) Ruth ii. 14 Cum hider & ett bred & weet þi mussel in eysel. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 13485 (MED) Qua had o penis thre hundreth Bred for to bi, þai ar sua fele War til ilkan bot a morsel. c1450 Med. Recipes (BL Add. 33996) in F. Heinrich (1896) 219 (MED) Ete þat at fyue mosseles & þenne drynk a gret drawȝt of good wyn. 1486 sig. av Take .iij. cornes of whete and put hem in a morcell of flesh and yeue thessame morcellis to the hawke. 1565 T. Stapleton f. 30 This apple is all rotten, and yet there are some sound morsells in him. 1634 T. Herbert 184 They..rap it about with leaues of Betele..[and] chaw it into..morsels. 1663 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto (new ed.) lviii. 230 She eat of the Fruit, and made her Husband likewise to eat of it, whence it ensued that they were both of them by that unhappy Morsel subjected to the pains of Death. a1710 No. 205. ⁋5 Every Morsel to a satisfied Hunger, is only a new Labour to a tired Digestion. 1758 S. Johnson 19 Aug. 153 The first morsel is in his mouth. 1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth vi, in 2nd Ser. I. 139 He took a cake in his hand, broke it, and was about to eat a morsel, when the effort to swallow seemed almost too much for him. 1860 J. Tyndall i. xxvii. 202 At the spring..the men paused to have a morsel of bread. 1923 Sept. 350/1 A small girl with a wire hook was chivvying the frying morsels about. 1989 V. Glendinning (1990) vi. 76 Leo ate a morsel from the monumental wedge of chocolate cake on his plate. c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) 7025 (MED) Late þis mossel bred þoru mi þrote wende. a1390 G. Chaucer 3624 Is ther no morsel breed that ye do kepe? ?a1425 f. 87v (MED) It is good..to ȝif hym a morsel brede wette in wele sauerde wyne. a1500 (?c1450) 6 (MED) Yef we hadde but a mossell [Fr. aumousne] brede, we haue more ioye..than ye haue with alle the delicatys of the worlde. 1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano sig. Q j b They eate a morsell breadde. the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > light meal or snacks a1382 (Bodl. 959) Job xxxi. 17 What shal I answern to hym..if I eet my mossel alone, & þe modirles child eet not of it? a1470 T. Malory (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 959 She prayde hym to take a lytyll morsell to dyne. ?1591 T. Coningsby Jrnl. Siege Rouen (Harl. 288) 24 in (1847) I The lord generall..havinge eaten a morsel toke freshe horses. 1655 E. Terry 8 The Shark..will make a morsell of any thing he can catch, master, and devour. a1734 R. North (1742) 291 But his Vices, in the Way of Women and the Bottle, were so ungoverned, as brought him to a Morsel. 1765 I. Bickerstaff i. iii. 8 Thou'lt come and eat a morsel of dinner with us. 1818 Lady Morgan in (1859) 154 We were eating our morsel at home. 1898 W. F. Clark 56 (E.D.D.) Janey was gettin' ready some kind o' morsel. the world > food and drink > food > qualities of food > [noun] > delicacy or titbit c1390 G. Chaucer 4025 No deyntee morsel passed thurgh hir throte. a1425 (Cambr.) (1968) 39 (MED) Neþer he speketh of swete morselles neþer of skarlet robes, but of liflode necessarie. ?c1450 tr. (1906) 22 I woll tell you an ensaumple of a woman that ete the good morsell in the absence of her husbonde. a1500 (?c1440) J. Lydgate Horse, Goose & Sheep (Lansd.) 207 in (1934) ii. 548 A fatt goos..a morsel agreable. 1546 J. Heywood ii. vii. sig. K Thou art..As holsome a morsell for my comly cors, As a shoulder of mutton for a sycke hors. a1637 B. Jonson Sad Shepherd i. vi. 7 in (1640) III All the sweet morsels, call'd Tongue, Eares, and Dowcets. View more context for this quotation 1763 J. Wesley I. ii. i. §10. 114 The tender young of the Opossum are delicate Morsels. 1856 E. K. Kane I. xiii. 149 All the spare morsels, the cast-off delicacies of the mess. 1879 S. C. Bartlett x. 225 The Sheikh brought me, as choice morsels, two or three clusters of large sorrel, which tasted very refreshing. 1958 W. C. Williams v. §3 It was my joy to bring him oranges, chocolate, and those precious morsels which his mother could not afford. 1983 A. Geras v. 66 An unending supply of tasty bits and pieces, morsels which she hoarded for her son. ?a1425 (a1415) (Harl.) (1917) 46 As þe greet fisches eeten þe smale, so miȝti riche men of þis world deuouren þe pore to her bare boon, eeting þe moselles þat hem beest likeþ. ?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre (1894) II. lf. 206 Whan the hisperyens sawe hym brought to that sorowe as for to taste the bitter morsell of deth, alle lefte their armes. ?1548 J. Bale ii. sig. Cv He shall be at the last A morsell for the deuyll. 1600 W. Shakespeare ii. iv. 370 Now coms in the sweetest morsell of the night, & we must hence and leaue it vnpickt. View more context for this quotation 1625 C. Burges 33 Tithes which is a sweet morsell that they are loath to part with. 1649 J. Milton ix. 81 That revenge was no unpleasing morsel to him. a1676 H. Guthry (1702) 91 The Rent of the Chapel Royal (esteem'd formerly a Morsel sufficient for a Bishop). 1745 E. Young 101 Few Years, the Sport Of Fortune; then, the Morsel of Despair. 1775 J. Harris xviii. 457 Many choice morsels both from Greek and Roman Writers. 1848 L. Hunt Pref. 2 With this sauce a man might swallow some of the bitterest morsels of life. 1874 E. O. M. Deutsch 74 Scores of other tough morsels in the Koran. 1986 J. Nagenda iii. iv. 144 Worse still you would be reduced to easy little morsels for her to swallow at her leisure. 1994 Reply Brief of Appellant 13 in (U.S. Court of Appeals: 7th Circuit, No. 94-1304) (typescript, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Libr.) Without any reasons given for the conclusion, the defendant is denied even that morsel of due process. the mind > attention and judgement > attractiveness > [noun] > attractive person > woman a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve (Harl. 4866) (1897) 3434 Rauyssht of þe beaute of þis womman, This tedir [read tendir] yong morsel. a1513 W. Dunbar (1998) I. 245 Scho wes ane morsall of delyte. 1600 sig. G2v The Lady Faukenbridge, It's she, sweet fortune thou hast sent her wel, I will intice this morcell to my Cell. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. i. 291 You doing thus, To the perpetuall winke for aye might put This ancient morsell: this Sir Prudence. View more context for this quotation 1636 W. Sampson i. sig. D1v And what are you prety morsell? 1712 C. Johnson iv. ii. 48 What cursed Fortune had I, to loose all my Mony and this delicate Morsell? 1838 J. W. Carlyle (1903) I. 69 Beware..how you encourage that little morsel of yours to follow the trade of being a Genius. 1841 C. Brontë ?4 May (1995) I. 253 From a bonny, rosy little morsel—it sinks in my estimation into a small, petted nuisance—Ditto with regard to the other children. 1944 C. Porter (1983) 261/3 Missus Bell, one day on the beach, was out..When along came a Hollywood talent scout... Cried the scout from Universal, ‘What a juicy little mersel [sic for rhyme]!’ 1988 M. Bradbury 97 A girl named Ernestine, a long-legged, toothsome morsel who wore black stockings. 2. the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part > a fragment 1381 Diuersa Servicia in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler (1985) 71 Nym god fresch flesch..& hew yt in smale morselys. a1450 in T. Austin (1888) 30 (MED) Take Applys..an smal screde hem in mossellys. 1597 R. Hooker v. lxxix. 244 He simply deliuered vp a large morsell whereby the value of that which remained was betrayed. 1662 J. Evelyn iv. 92 A morcel of St. Peters by it self. 1693 N. Tate tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal xvi. 301 Whose Flesh torn off by Lumps, the rav'nous Foe In Morsels cut, to make it farther go. 1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre (1799) I. 124 Look at the anfractuosities of a simple morsel of iron-dross. 1839 A. Ure 815 The small morsels of quicksilver ore. 1860 J. L. Motley (1868) I. i. 8 A morsel of territory. a1897 T. E. Brown (1900) ii. 108 As neat and as pert and as sharp as a pin, With a mossel of hair on the tip of his chin. 1932 S. O'Faoláin 190 Sean..dropped the broken record bit by bit into the fire, frowning as each morsel shot up in acrid flame. 1951 J. Hawkes vii. 112 A slate, a little rectangle of Cambrian mud framed in wood and with a morsel of sponge tied to one corner. the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > a very small amount > specifically of something immaterial 1779 J. Warner in J. H. Jesse (1844) IV. 246 A great stark-naked new house on an eminence, without a morsel of anything green about it. 1860 A. Trollope I. vi. 106 I'm blessed if I've a morsel of feeling in my toes. 1870 J. H. Burton VII. lxxiv. 215 No morsel of the system could now be counted an open question. 1893 July 44 He lay like a log for weeks, without a morsel of sense in his noddle. 1994 S. Dawson (1996) i. ii. 18 The dog took not the least morsel of notice of his young master. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022). morselv. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: morsel n. Etymology: < morsel n. Compare Middle French, French morceler (1573 in Middle French; compare Old French morsiller to bite (c1320)).The English word is first recorded glossing Italian morsicchiare to bite (a1449; 1598 in Florio as morsecchiare : see quot. 1598 at sense 1). Now rare. the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > divide [verb (transitive)] > into small parts 1598 J. Florio To morsell, to bite. 1621 J. Molle tr. P. Camerarius iv. xvii. 301 Chopping into peeces, morselling [Fr. boucanant] and deuouring their prisoners. 1868 E. Bulwer-Lytton I. 13 For, the gods having first morsell'd Man into men, Men by growing together must grow into Man. 1879 G. M. Hopkins (1967) 85 All while her patience, morselled into pangs, Mounts. 1920 Oct. 605 In 1700, in the Italy morselled into many States,..a few common traits remained as tokens of part unity. the mind > possession > giving > distributing or dealing out > distribute or deal out [verb (transitive)] > sparingly or in small quantities 1855 C. G. F. Gore I. 7 Their estates have been morselled out; while ours remain intact. 1859 D. Masson i. 50 The total mass..was shaped, adjusted, and again morselled out in parts by subsequent minstrels. 1868 E. Bulwer-Lytton II. 338 Not morsell'd out from day to day In feverish wishes, nor the prey Of hours that have no plan, His life is whole. Derivatives the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > [adjective] > divided > divided into small parts 1799 T. Beddoes (Advt. following p. 539) The practice..of tantalizing readers by morselled information. 1861 J. C. H. Fane & Ld. Lytton 95 The split and morselled crags. 1972 J. Minifie vii. 57 Despite the disadvantages of morselled mice, the pump had..advantages. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.c1300 v.1598 |
