pygmy

pronunciation

How to pronounce pygmy in British English: UK ['pɪɡmɪ] word uk audio image

How to pronounce pygmy in American English: US [ˈpɪɡmi] word us audio image

Word Origin

pygmy: pygmy: [14] Greek pugmé meant ‘fist’ (it may have been related to Latin pugnus ‘fist’, source of English pugnacious). By extension, it was used for a ‘measure of length equal to the distance from the elbows to the knuckles’. From it was derived pugmaíos ‘dwarfish’, which passed into English via Latin pygmaeus. In ancient and medieval times it was used as a noun to designate various apocryphal or mythical races of short stature, but it was not until the late 19th century that it was applied to the people of equatorial Africa who now bear the name.=> pugnacious

pygmy (n.): late 14c., Pigmei, "member of a fabulous race of dwarfs," described by Homer and Herodotus and said to inhabit Egypt or Ethiopia and India, from Latin Pygmaei (singular Pygmaeus), from Greek Pygmaioi, plural of Pygmaios "a Pygmy," noun use of adjective meaning "dwarfish," literally "of the length of a pygme; a pygme tall," from pygme "cubit," literally "fist," the measure of length from the elbow to the knuckle; related to pyx "with clenched fist" and to Latin pugnus "fist" (see pugnacious). Figurative use for "person of small importance" is from 1590s. Believed in 17c. to refer to chimpanzees or orangutans, and occasionally the word was used in this sense. The ancient word was applied by Europeans to the equatorial African race 1863, but the tribes probably were known to the ancients and likely were the original inspiration for the legend. As an adjective from 1590s. Related: Pygmean; Pygmaean.

adj.

3. The country that once boasted 40 % of the global goods trade has become an export pygmy .

4. Mr bush once famously called north korea 's president a " pygmy " , and more recently a tyrant .

5. The result is a foreign policy that rests on a defense giant and a number of pygmy departments .