morpheme

UK: /ˈmɔːfiːm/ US: /ˈmɔrfim/ ,(môr′fēm)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

mor•pheme /ˈmɔrfim/   n. [countable]

1. a basic grammatical unit of a language that makes up a word or meaningful part of a word that cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts, as the, write, the -s of books, or the -ed of
   waited.

See -morph-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

mor•pheme  (môr′fēm), n. [Ling.]

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. Cf. allomorph (def. 2), morph (def. 1).

• French morphème; see morph-, -eme
• 1895–1900

mor•phe′mic, adj. 
mor•phe′mi•cal•ly, adv. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

morpheme / ˈmɔːfiːm/ noun

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

Etymology: 20th Century: from French, from Greek morphē form, coined on the model of phoneme; see -eme

morˈphemic adjective

morˈphemically adverb