pygmy
Relating or belonging to the Pygmy peopleRelating or belonging to the Pygmy people.
Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.
Die Bürokratie ist ein gewaltiger Mechanismus, der von Pygmäen betrieben wird. — Yorwba
Бюрократия - это гигантский механизм, управляемый карликами. — Selena777
carlosalberto · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 sensesRelating or belonging to the Pygmy people.
Unusually short or small for its kind, especially in the names of animals and plants.
Examples
3 sentencesBureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.
ruБюрократия - это гигантский механизм, управляемый карликами. — Selena777
deDie Bürokratie ist ein gewaltiger Mechanismus, der von Pygmäen betrieben wird. — Yorwba
A pygmy is something that is a very small example of its type.
Be bold, European Union, or remain a political pygmy.
deSei kühn, Europäische Union, oder bleib ein politischer Pygmäe. — al_ex_an_der
Origin
From Latin Pygmaeī, from Ancient Greek πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos, “a member of a legendary race oFrom Latin Pygmaeī, from Ancient Greek πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos, “a member of a legendary race of dwarves”), from πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist (as small as a fist)”). In Ancient Greek, first mentioned by Homer; only applied to actual human races in the 19th century.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
more pygmy, most pygmy| Comparative | more pygmy Lesson |
|---|---|
| Superlative | most pygmy Lesson |
regular
Synonyms
3 synonymsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.