Word
In language, a word is the smallest element that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content (with literal or practical meaning). This contrasts with a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own. A word may consist of a single morpheme (for example: oh!, rock, red, quick, run, expect), or several (rocks, redness, quickly, running, unexpected), whereas a morpheme may not be able to stand on its own as a word (in the words just mentioned, these are -s, -ness, -ly, -ing, un-, -ed). A complex word will typically include a root and one or more affixes (rock-s, red-ness, quick-ly, run-ning, un-expect-ed), or more than one root in a compound (black-board, rat-race). Words can be put together to build larger elements of language, such as phrases (a red rock), clauses (I threw a rock), and sentences (He threw a rock too but he missed).
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Famous quotes containing the word word:
“Mr. Maguire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. Maguire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. Maguire: Plastics.”
—Calder Willingham (1923–1995)
“Never had he felt the joy of the word more sweetly, never had he known so clearly that Eros dwells in language.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)