morpheme.

The smallest language unit that carries lexical meaning or a grammatical function.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• bound morpheme
• free morpheme
• grammatical morpheme

On the page

The class divided unhappiness into the morphemes un-, happy, and -ness.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal / analytical. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Singular morpheme; plural morphemes. Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Dictionary definitions distinguish minimal lexical or grammatical unit from syllables, sounds, and whole words; bound and free forms are explained. Writing functions: language analysis, conceptual distinction.