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Synonyms for pygmy

Grammar : Noun
Spell : pig-mee
Phonetic Transcription : ˈpɪg mi

Définition of pygmy

Origin :
  • 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.
  • noun small being
Example sentences :
  • It was written about in the Pygmy histories, and talked about in their ancient traditions.
  • Extract from : « Tanglewood Tales » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • They ran their eyes down the long table; every person there was a pygmy.
  • Extract from : « Prince Vance » by Eleanor Putnam
  • It was no pygmy undertaking upon which the Americans had embarked.
  • Extract from : « The Naval History of the United States » by Willis J. Abbot.
  • Had I brought with me or did I hear now a whispered: "Pygmy, again!"
  • Extract from : « The Thing from the Lake » by Eleanor M. Ingram
  • "This one might be a pygmy, for all we know," said the Very Young Man.
  • Extract from : « The Girl in the Golden Atom » by Raymond King Cummings
  • The forest is the home of the Pygmy, as in all probability it was of the man-ape.
  • Extract from : « Man And His Ancestor » by Charles Morris
  • There is nothing to show that the idea of agriculture ever entered the mind of a Pygmy.
  • Extract from : « Man And His Ancestor » by Charles Morris
  • The Pygmy is negro-like in cast of countenance and bodily formation.
  • Extract from : « Man And His Ancestor » by Charles Morris
  • It was like a pygmy daring a giant, a tugboat challenging the Imperator.
  • Extract from : « Bert Wilson's Twin Cylinder Racer » by J. W. Duffield
  • Kirk, the old baseball player, looked like a pygmy beside him.
  • Extract from : « For the Honor of the School » by Ralph Henry Barbour

Antonyms for pygmy

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019