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 pigmy word
- noun plural pigmy 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 pigmy (lowercase) Disparaging and Offensive. a small or dwarfish person. 1
- noun plural pigmy (lowercase) anything very small of its kind. 1
- noun plural pigmy (lowercase) a person who is of small importance, or who has some quality, attribute, etc., in very small measure. 1
- noun plural pigmy 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 pigmy (often lowercase) of or relating to the Pygmies. 1
Information block about the term
Origin of pigmy
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 Pigmy
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
pigmy popularity
A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 65% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.
pigmy usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for pigmy
noun pigmy
- chimpanzee — A chimpanzee is a kind of small African ape.
Top questions with pigmy
- how big do pigmy goats get?
- what is pigmy?
- what is a pigmy?