(亦作pigmy)
(pl. -ies)
1- a member of certain peoples of very short stature in equatorial Africa and parts of SE Asia俾格米人（赤道非洲及东南亚部分地区身材矮小的民族）。
1.1
- chiefly derogatory a very small person, animal, or thing〈主贬〉特别矮小的人（或动物、东西）。
1.2
- usu. with adj. an insignificant person, especially one who is deficient in a particular respect无足轻重的人（尤指某方面缺乏者）：
he regarded them as intellectual pigmies.
他认为他们是智能上的矮子。
Pygmies （e.g. the Mbuti and Twa peoples） are typically dark-skinned, nomadic hunter-gatherers with an average male height not above 150 cm （4 ft 11 in.）. The term Negrito is also used in reference to such populations of SE Asia.
attrib.
1- (of a person or thing) very small（人, 物）极小的。
1.1
- used in names of animals and plants that are much smaller than more typical kinds, e.g. pygmy shrew, pygmy water lily用于比典型种类小得多的动物和植物名称中, 如 pygmy shrew, pygmy water lily。
派生词
pygmean
adjective （archaic〈古〉）词源
late 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'.