Pygmy

American  

[pig-mee] / ˈpɪg mi /

Or Pigmy

noun

plural

Pygmies

1. Anthropology.

   1. a member of a small-statured people native to equatorial Africa.

   2. a Negrito of southeastern Asia, or of the Andaman or Philippine islands.

2. Disparaging and Offensive. pygmy, a small or dwarfish person.

3. pygmy, anything very small of its kind.

4. pygmy, a person who is of small importance, or who has some quality, attribute, etc., in very small measure.

5. Classical Mythology. (in theIliad ) one of a race of dwarfs who fought battles with cranes, who preyed on them and destroyed their fields.

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adjective

1. Often pygmy of or relating to the Pygmies.

2. pygmy, of very small size, capacity, power, etc.

Pygmy ¹ British  

/ ˈpɪɡmɪ /

noun

1. a member of one of the dwarf peoples of Equatorial Africa, noted for their hunting and forest culture

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pygmy ² British  

/ ˈpɪɡmɪ, pɪɡˈmiːən /

noun

1. an abnormally undersized person

2. something that is a very small example of its type

3. a person of little importance or significance

4. (modifier) of very small stature or size

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Pygmy Cultural  

1. A member of any ethnic group in which the average height of the adult male is less than four feet, eleven inches. There are Pygmy tribes in dense rain-forest areas of central Africa, southern India, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The most widely studied Pygmies are the Mbuti of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, who pursue a nomadic hunting and gathering subsistence (see nomadism and hunting and gathering societies), but have established complex interdependent relationships with their non-Pygmy farming neighbors.

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Other Word Forms

• pygmaean adjective
• pygmoid adjective
• pygmyish adjective
• pygmyism noun

Etymology

Origin of Pygmy

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English pigmēis, plural of pigmē, from Latin Pygmaeus, from Greek pygmaîos “dwarfish” (adjective), Pygmy (noun), equivalent to pyg(mḗ) ) “distance from elbow to knuckles” + -aios adjective suffix

Example Sentences

She has also conducted workshops and sold merchandise — from art prints to T-shirts to washi tape — at such spots as Leanna Lin’s Wonderland, Popkiller and Pygmy Hippo Shoppe.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

Pygmy hippos are much smaller than their river cousins and critically endangered, with fewer than 2,500 believed to remain in the wild.

From Salon • Jul. 13, 2025

Pygmy hippos, otherwise known as dwarf hippos, are native to West Africa and experts believe there are only about 2,500 left in the wild worldwide.

From BBC • Nov. 5, 2024

Hannan's Pygmy Squid, Kodama jujutsu, is a newly discovered species within a whole new genus.

From Science Daily • Oct. 24, 2023

As he was ducking toward the drinks table, he walked straight into Ginny, Arnold the Pygmy Puff riding on her shoulder and Crookshanks mewing hopefully at her heels.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling