morpho

¹ American  

[mawr-foh] / ˈmɔr foʊ /

noun

plural

morphos

1. any of various large, tropical American butterflies of the genus Morpho, having brilliant blue, iridescent wings with an underside of brown or gray and eyelike spots.

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morpho- ² American  

1. a combining form meaning “form, structure,” used in the formation of compound words.

   morphology.

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morpho- British  

combining form

1. indicating form or structure

   morphology

2. morpheme

   morphophonemics

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Usage

What does morpho- mean? Morpho- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “form, structure.” It is often occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in biology and linguistics.Morpho- comes from Greek morphḗ, meaning “form.”What are variants of morpho-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, morpho- becomes morph-, as in morphactin. Additional related combining forms include -morphic, -morphism, and -morphous. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles on all four combining forms.

Etymology

Origin of morpho¹

First recorded in 1850–55; from New Latin Morphō, genus name, from Greek Morphṓ “the Shapely, the Beautiful” (an epithet of Aphrodite in Sparta), akin to morphḗ “form, shape, figure, beauty”

Origin of morpho-¹

< Greek, combining form of morphḗ

Example Sentences

A crystal-festooned collar necklace calls to mind a pair of Blue Morpho butterfly wings.

From Los Angeles Times

When stablecoins are deposited into Coinbase’s lending program, they are routed to Morpho, a DeFi platform where borrowers post cryptocurrency collateral in order to borrow stablecoins.

From MarketWatch

Then one day a fortunetelling machine called the Morpho appears in the general store, promising to reveal one’s true potential.

From New York Times

“We’re getting ready to meet the real Morpho!”

From Literature

“I hate to break it to you, but Morpho is a fictional character. So you can turn off your night-light and stop worrying about your brains. He’s not real.”

From Literature