pygmaean


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pyg·mae·an

or pyg·me·an  (pĭg-mē′ən, pĭg′mē-)
adj.
Pygmy.

[From Latin pygmaeus, sing. of Pygmaeī, the Pygmies; see Pygmy.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Pyg•my

or Pigmy

(ˈpɪg mi)

n., pl. -mies,
adj. n.
1.
a. a member of any of several small-statured peoples of Africa, esp. the forested regions of central Africa.
b. a Negrito of SE Asia, or of the Andaman or Philippine islands.
2. (l.c.) a small or dwarfish person.
3. (l.c.) anything very small of its kind.
4. (l.c.) a person of small importance or lacking in some important quality, attribute, etc.
adj.
5. (sometimes l.c.) of or pertaining to the Pygmies.
6. (l.c.) of very small size, capacity, power, etc.
[1350–1400; Middle English pigmēis, pl. of pigmē < Latin Pygmaeus < Greek pygmaîos dwarfish, a member of a legendary race of dwarflike people =pygm(ḗ) distance from elbow to knuckles + -aios adj. suffix]
pyg′moid, adj.
pyg′my•ism, n.
syn: See dwarf.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.