morpho

¹

[ mawr-foh ]

noun

, plural mor·phos.

1. any of various large, tropical American butterflies of the genus Morpho, having brilliant blue, iridescent wings with an underside of brown or gray and eyelike spots.

morpho-

²

1. a combining form meaning “form, structure,” used in the formation of compound words:

   morphology.

morpho-

combining_form

1. indicating form or structure

   morphology

2. morpheme

   morphophonemics

Word History and Origins

Origin of morpho¹

First recorded in 1850–55; from New Latin Morphō, genus name, from Greek Morphṓ “the Shapely, the Beautiful” (an epithet of Aphrodite in Sparta), akin to morphḗ “form, shape, figure, beauty”

Origin of morpho²

< Greek, combining form of morphḗ

Word History and Origins

Origin of morpho¹

from Greek morphē form, shape

Example Sentences

Then one day a fortunetelling machine called the Morpho appears in the general store, promising to reveal one’s true potential.

From New York Times

“I’m Morpho, and I’m going to eat your brains!”

From Literature

Chet loved Morpho even more than the rest of them did.

From Literature

He’d seen the Morpho movie seven times.

From Literature

“They were probably too scared of Morpho to think straight,” he suggested.

From Literature

Words That Use morpho-

What does morpho- mean?

Morpho– is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “form, structure.” It is often occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in biology and linguistics.

Morpho– comes from Greek morphḗ, meaning “form.”

What are variants of morpho-?

When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, morpho– becomes morph–, as in morphactin. Additional related combining forms include –morphic, –morphism, and –morphous. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles on all four combining forms.

Examples of morpho-

A scientific term that uses the form morpho– is morphology, “the branch of biology dealing with the form and structure of organisms.”

We know morpho– means “form,” while the –logy portion of the word refers to “science” or “body of knowledge,” from Greek logía. Morphology literally translates to “science of forms.”

What are some words that use the combining form morpho-?

• morphogenesis
• morphometrics
• morphometry
• morphophoneme
• morphosyntax

What are some other forms that morpho– may be commonly confused with?

• multi-
• myria-

Break it down!

The combining form –metry means “the process of measuring.” With this in mind, what does morphometry literally mean?