pygmy
adjective/ˈpɪɡmi/
/ˈpɪɡmi/
(also pigmy)
[only before noun]- used to describe a plant or species (= type) of animal that is much smaller than other similar kinds
- a pygmy shrew
Word Originlate Middle English (originally in the plural, denoting a mythological race of small people): via Latin from Greek pugmaios ‘dwarf’, from pugmē ‘the length measured from elbow to knuckles’.Definitions on the go
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pygmy