Transcription
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
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- [pig-mee]
- /ˈpɪg mi/
- /ˈpɪɡ.mi/
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [pig-mee]
- /ˈpɪg mi/
Definitions of pygmy word
- noun plural pygmy Anthropology. a member of a small-statured people native to equatorial Africa. a Negrito of southeastern Asia, or of the Andaman or Philippine islands. 1
- noun plural pygmy (lowercase) Disparaging and Offensive. a small or dwarfish person. 1
- noun plural pygmy (lowercase) anything very small of its kind. 1
- noun plural pygmy (lowercase) a person who is of small importance, or who has some quality, attribute, etc., in very small measure. 1
- noun plural pygmy Classical Mythology. (in the Iliad) one of a race of dwarfs who fought battles with cranes, who preyed on them and destroyed their fields. 1
- adjective pygmy (often lowercase) of or relating to the Pygmies. 1
Information block about the term
Origin of pygmy
First appearance:
before 1350 One of the 20% oldest English words
1350-1400; Middle English pigmēis, plural of pigmē < Latin Pygmaeus < Greek pygmaîos dwarfish (adj.), Pygmy (noun), equivalent to pygm(ḗ) distance from elbow to knuckles + -aios adj. suffix
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Pygmy
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
pygmy popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 83% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
pygmy usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for pygmy
adj pygmy
- bitsy — very small
- bitty — If you say that something is bitty, you mean that it seems to be formed from a lot of different parts which you think do not fit together or go together well.
- lilliputian — extremely small; tiny; diminutive.
- mini — miniskirt.
- minikin — a person or object that is delicate, dainty, or diminutive.
noun pygmy
- homunculi — an artificially made dwarf, supposedly produced in a flask by an alchemist.
- homunculus — an artificially made dwarf, supposedly produced in a flask by an alchemist.
- midge — any of numerous minute dipterous insects, especially of the family Chironomidae, somewhat resembling a mosquito. Compare gnat (def 1).
- midget — (not in technical use) an extremely small person having normal physical proportions.
adjective pygmy
- weeny — weenie.
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