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morpheme

Syllabification: (mor·pheme)
Pronunciation: /ˈmôrˌfēm/

Definition of morpheme

noun

Linguistics
  • a meaningful morphological unit of a language that cannot be further divided (e.g., in, come, -ing, forming incoming).
  • a morphological element considered with respect to its functional relations in a linguistic system.

Derivatives

morphemic

Pronunciation: /môrˈfēmik/

adjective

morphemically

Pronunciation: /môrˈfēmik(ə)lē/

adverb

Origin:

late 19th century: from French morphème, from Greek morphē 'form', on the pattern of French phonème 'phoneme'

Grammar

The lowest unit of language that can convey meaning. You cannot break a morpheme down into anything smaller that has a meaning. Many simple words are morphemes. For example:child shed walk Some words consist of two or more morphemes:

child+renchild+ish
walk+swalk+ing
ren, ish, s, ing all convey some meaning, even though none of them is a word in its own right. If we try to break them down any further we just end up with letters or sounds:r+e+n i+s+h None of these conveys meaning on its own.

morpheme in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of morpheme in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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