Nugget

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈnʌɡət/

Definitions

1. A small lump of a valuable metal or mineral found naturally ; a small, bite-sized piece of food, often fried or breaded ; a brief but valuable piece of information or an important idea
2. A naturally occurring small chunk of metal or mineral typically mined ; a small portion of food usually served as a snack or quick bite ; a concise and useful fact or insight
3. A tiny mass of metal or mineral discovered in nature ; a small edible piece usually cooked for quick eating ; a meaningful or treasured piece of knowledge or a clever notion

Etymology: Nobody knows for certain where "nugget" comes from, and the candidates pull in different directions. One possibility is the southern English dialect word "nug", meaning a lump or block, with the diminutive "-et" added. Another is the Scottish "knudge" or "nudge", used of a short, sturdy person or animal, which would make a nugget a little compact thing before it was ever a lump of gold. A third idea is that "ingot" was misheard and re-split as "a nugget," a rebracketing that turned the start of a word into a new one. The word's earliest recorded uses are not about gold at all. It first appears describing animals and people in Scotland, which makes the sense of a stout, chunky thing the more plausible starting point. Only later did it attach to lumps of ore, and in Australia it became firmly linked with gold, where a nugget is a naturally formed piece of the metal rather than one shaped by a smelter.

Synonyms: chunk, piece, bit, lump, clump

Antonyms: whole, mass, entirety, totality, aggregate