morpheme

[ mawr-feem ]

noun

, Linguistics.

1. any of the minimal grammatical units of a language, each constituting a word or meaningful part of a word, that cannot be divided into smaller independent grammatical parts, as the, write, or the -ed of waited. Compare allomorph ( def 2 ), morph ( def 1 ).

morpheme

/ ˈmɔːfiːm /

noun

1. linguistics a speech element having a meaning or grammatical function that cannot be subdivided into further such elements

Derived Forms

• morˈphemically, adverb
• morˈphemic, adjective

Other Words From

• mor·phemic adjective
• mor·phemi·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of morpheme¹

1895–1900; < French morphème; morph-, -eme

Word History and Origins

Origin of morpheme¹

C20: from French, from Greek morphē form, coined on the model of phoneme ; see -eme

Example Sentences

For example, the morpheme er-, which qualified most anything having to do with an outer body part, could be stuck to -cho to yield ercho, meaning “head.”

From Scientific American

Those words are made up of morphemes, small elements that change their meaning depending on how they are combined.

From New York Times

On the pretext of performing usability testing for Sparkle Dungeon 5, she is taught “power morphemes” — ways to condense layers of meaning into abstract sounds that can bend real-world physics, shattering glass and folding space-time.

From New York Times

She draws pictures illustrating each mouth morpheme — the lip and tongue postures that act as adjectives and adverbs.

From New York Times

I was imitating something linguistically unique to sign language called “mouth morphemes” — moving your tongue rapidly to demonstrate distance or swelling your cheeks like balloons to show size.

From New York Times

Related Words

• concept
• expression
• name
• phrase
• sound
• term