mouthful
UK[ˈmaʊθfʊl]US[ˈmaʊθˌfʊl]
n
An amount of food or drink that fills your mouth, or that you put into your mouth at one time.
n
A long or complicated word or phrase that is difficult to say.
Morpheme Breakdown
mouth
ful
mouth
body part
ful
full of
Etymology
The word 'mouthful' is a transparent compound formed within English from the native Germanic elements 'mouth' and the suffix '-ful'. The first element, 'mouth', has a stable history referring to the oral cavity, tracing back to Proto-Germanic. The suffix '-ful', meaning "full of" or "characterized by," originates from the Old English adjective full. The compound's literal sense, "the amount that fills a mouth," is a straightforward descriptive formation. Over time, this concrete meaning was extended metaphorically to describe a word or phrase that is so long or complex it seems to fill the mouth when spoken, highlighting the physical effort of articulation.
Analysis
Structure: mouth (body part) + ful (full of)
- mouth: From Old English mūþ, meaning the opening through which food is taken and sounds are uttered. Its Proto-Germanic root is munþaz, and it is related to the Latin mentum (chin).
- ful: A suffix from Old English -ful, meaning "full of" or "characterized by." It is derived from the adjective full, which comes from Proto-Germanic fullaz, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root pelh₁- meaning "to fill."
Examples
She took a large mouthful of water.
"Antidisestablishmentarianism" is quite a mouthful.
He managed a mouthful of the rich dessert before pushing it away.