Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “morcellate” come from?

morcellate (English) comes from French morceler, from French morceau, from Middle French morceau, from Old French morsel, from Medieval Latin morsellum, from Latin morsum, from Latin morsus, from Latin -tus — Derives action nouns from verb roots.

morcellate (English): To break into small pieces, prior to removal

Definitions

  1. To break into small pieces, prior to removal

Ancestry of “morcellate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchmorcelerto break up; to divide up
2Frenchmorceaupiece, slice, bit, morsel; gun, piece
3Middle Frenchmorceaubit; piece
4Old Frenchmorselmorsel; bit; piece
5Medieval Latinmorselluma bit, a little piece; a small piece
6Latinmorsuma piece, bit; accusative singular of morsus
7Latinmorsusbitten, eaten, devoured, consumed, having been...
8Latin-tusForms the past participle of verbs; Forms...
9Proto-Italic-tus—
10Proto-Indo-European-tusDerives action nouns from verb roots

Words derived from “morcellate”

  • morcellation
  • morcellator
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tus →