The amount of food or drink that fills your mouth, or a complicated phrase that is difficult to say.
Compound of 'mouth' and 'full.' The word developed over centuries from Old English 'muð' (mouth) plus the suffix '-ful' meaning 'containing as much as.' The metaphorical sense emerged when people described hard-to-pronounce words as hard to fit in one's mouth.
The phrase 'a mouthful' meaning 'something too complex to explain simply' shows how our bodies shape our language—we literally describe difficult ideas as difficult to 'fit in our mouths,' borrowing physical experience to express mental challenge!
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