Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “pygmy” come from?

Pygmy derives from Ancient Greek Πυγμαῖος, from Ancient Greek πυγμαῖος, from Ancient Greek πυγμή meaning fist or forearm length, from Proto-Indo-European pewǵ-.

pygmy (English): A member of one of various Ancient Equatorial...

Definitions

  1. A member of one of various Ancient Equatorial...

Ancestry of “pygmy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1LatinPygmaeia mythical race of pygmies
2Ancient Greekπυγμαῖοςmythical dwarf; a member of a race of dwarves
3Ancient Greek-αῖος—
4Ancient Greek-ῐοςbelonging to; of”, “belonging to”, “pertaining to
5Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “pygmy”

  • pygmoid
  • pygmyism
  • pygmy chimpanzee
  • pygmyish
  • ピグミーチンパンジー
  • ピグミー
  • pigmí
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →