See Also: Pygmy(medicine)
pygmy(dictionary)
Pygmy(encyclopedia)
pygmy 1, noun(dictionary)
pygmy 2, adjective(dictionary)

nervosity (iou) and pygmy (iou)


nervosity (iou)



nervosity noun. LME.
[Latin nervositas strength, formed as NERVOUS: see -OSITY.]
The state of having or consisting of sinews or fibres. Only in LME.
Strength. rare. Only in 17.
The state or quality of being nervous; nervousness; rare an instance of this. L18.

pygmy (iou)



pygmy noun, adjective, & verb. Also pigmy. LME.
[In earliest use in pl., from Latin pygmaei pl. of pygmaeus from Greek pugmaios dwarf(ish) from pugme measure of length from elbow to knuckles, fist.]
A. noun.
A member of any of several peoples of very short stature inhabiting equatorial Africa and parts of SE Asia. Formerly also, a member of a (mythological) race of very small people traditionally inhabiting parts of Ethiopia or India. LME.
a. gen. A person of very small stature; a dwarf. E16.
b. fig. A person of very little significance, or having some quality to a very small degree. L16.
Sunday Times Maxwell and Lord Stevens are scarcely financial pygmies. A. N. Wilson The..volume established Lewis..as a giant among the pygmies of the Oxford English Faculty.
c. transf. A thing that is much smaller than the average of its kind. M19.
An elf, a pixie. E17.
b. adjective.
(Of a person or animal) of very small size or stature; gen. very small, diminutive, tiny; esp. designating animal species much smaller than related forms. Also (fig.), of very little significance. L16.
Courier-Mail (Brisbane) My pygmy effort is just a gesture. BBC Wildlife The world's smallest monkeys, the pygmy marmosets.
Of or pertaining to pygmies. M17.
Special collocations & comb.: pygmy chimpanzee a small chimpanzee, Pan paniscus, found in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire). pygmy-flint Archaeology any of a class of small flint artefacts (now usu. classed as microliths). pygmy glider = flying mouse s.v. FLYING ppl adjective. pygmy goose any of various small Old World geese of the genus Nettapus. pygmy hippopotamus a small W. African hippopotamus, Choeropsis liberiensis. pygmy owl any of various small owls of the genus Glaucidium, esp. G. passerinum of Eurasia. pygmy possum any of various small Australasian possums of the family Burramyidae. pygmy shrew a shrew, Sorex minutus (Eurasia) or S. hoyi (America), which is one of the smallest known mammals.
C. verb trans. Make a pygmy of, reduce to insignificance, dwarf. rare. M17.