morph

n. (Linguistics) A sequence of phonemes, often a word fragment, which constitutes the minimum unit of meaning or syntax within a given word. A morph may be one of several variants of a morpheme, depending for its individal form on the context in which it occurs. Thus the morphs -s and -es are variants of the morpheme by which the plural form of an English noun is expressed. [ PJC ]

a. Of or relating to Morpheus, to dreams, or to sleep. Keats. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Linguistics) The smallest unit of meaning of a language, which cannot be divided into smaller parts carrying meaning; it is usually smaller than a single wordform, such as the -ed morpheme of verbs in the past tense or the -s morpheme of nouns in the plural form. [ PJC ]

a. (Linguistics) Of or pertaining to a morpheme. [ PJC ]

-- mor*phem"ic*al*ly, adv.

n. (Linguistics) The study of the types and functions of morphemes; morphology{ 4 }. [ PJC ]

n. [ L., fr. Gr. Morfey`s prop., the fashioner or molder, because of the shapes he calls up before the sleeper, fr. morfh` form, shape. ] (Class. Myth.) The god of dreams. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cover with a morphew. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. morpheé, LL. morphea; cf. It. morfea. ] A scurfy eruption. [ Obs. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]