morph-

¹ American  

1. variant of morpho- before a vowel.

   morpheme.

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-morph ² American  

1. a combining form meaning “form, structure,” of the kind specified by the initial element.

   isomorph.

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morph ³ American  

[mawrf] / mɔrf /

noun

1. Linguistics. a sequence of phonemes constituting a minimal unit of grammar or syntax, and, as such, a representation, member, or contextual variant of a morpheme in a specific environment.

2. Biology. an individual of one particular form, as a worker ant, in a species that occurs in two or more forms.

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verb (used with object)

1. to transform (an image) by computer.

verb (used without object)

1. to be transformed.

   morphing from a tough negotiator to Mr. Friendly.

morph ¹ British  

/ mɔːf /

noun

1. biology any of the different forms of individual found in a polymorphic species

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-morph ² British  

combining form

1. indicating shape, form, or structure of a specified kind

   ectomorph

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morph ³ British  

/ mɔːf /

noun

1. linguistics the phonological representation of a morpheme

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morph ⁴ British  

/ mɔːf /

verb

1. to undergo or cause to undergo morphing

2. to transform or be transformed completely in appearance or character

   he morphed from nerd into pop icon

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noun

1. a morphed image

morph. ⁵ British  

abbreviation

1. morphological

2. morphology

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morph Scientific  

/ môrf /

1. A phenotypically distinct form of an organism or species.

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Usage

What does morph- mean? Morph- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “form, structure.” It is often occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in biology and linguistics.Morph- comes from Greek morphḗ, meaning “form.”What are variants of morph-?Morph- is a variant of morpho-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels. Additional related combining forms include -morphic, -morphism, and -morphous. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles on all four combining forms.

What does -morph mean? The combining form -morph is used like a suffix meaning “form, structure.” It is often used in scientific terms, especially in biology. Historically, -morph has been used in the pseudoscience of somatotype, which seeks to typify body shapes.The form -morph ultimately comes from Greek morphḗ, meaning “form.” The equivalent combining form from Latin is -form, from -fōrmis, meaning “having the form of.”What are variants of -morph?The form -morph is related to the forms -morphous and -morphic, meaning "having the shape, form, or structure." Other related forms are -morphism, morph-, and morpho-. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles on all five forms.

Other Word Forms

• -morphic combining form
• -morphy combining form
• morphic adjective

Etymology

Origin of -morph¹

< Greek -morphos; -morphous

Origin of morph¹

1945–50; back formation from morpheme, or independent use of -morph

Example Sentences

That’s even harder to do when policy changes and geopolitical moves take a long time to play out, and even then can morph over time.

From Barron's

That’s even harder to do when policy changes and geopolitical moves take a long time to play out, and even then can morph over time.

From Barron's

Grok, the xAI chatbot, includes image-generation features that allow users to morph existing photos into new images.

From Los Angeles Times

Then, Glaser gave DiCaprio’s co-star Sean Penn a dubious compliment by saying, “You know, everyone in this town is obsessed with looking younger. Meanwhile, Sean Penn is like, ‘What if I slowly morph into a sexy leather handbag?’

From Salon

“Meanwhile Sean Penn is like, ‘What if I slowly morph into a sexy leather handbag?’”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• alter
• modify
• transform