dwarf

Meaning

Noun

1. Any member of a race of beings from (especially Scandinavian and other Germanic) folklore, usually depicted as having some sort of supernatural powers and being skilled in crafting and metalworking, often as short with long beards, and sometimes as clashing with elves.
2. (offensive, sometimes) A person of short stature, often one whose limbs are disproportionately small in relation to the body as compared with typical adults, usually as the result of a genetic condition.
3. An animal, plant or other thing much smaller than the usual of its sort.
4. A dwarf star.

Adj

Miniature.

Verb

1. (transitive) To render (much) smaller, turn into a dwarf (version).
2. (transitive) To make appear (much) smaller, puny, tiny; to be much larger than.
3. (transitive) To make appear insignificant.
4. (intransitive) To become (much) smaller.
5. To hinder from growing to the natural size; to make or keep small; to stunt.

Opposite of

ettin, giant

Synonyms

midget

pygmy

gnome

small person

runt

manikin

pigmy

midgit

diminutive

elf

🧝

stunt

tiny

undersized

short person

pygmean

small

dwarfish

stunted

short

mannikin

blighted

little man

dwarf star

lilliputian

overshadow

little person

nanus

hunchback

shadow

miniaturize

minim

minimize

namely

of small size

outshine

Buddha

pipsqueak

razee

retard

belittle

scrimp

shorter

shrink

small man

sprites

very short person

main sequence star

tortoise

troll

🧌

Rama

Translations

nain

Zwerg

enano

nano

dwerg

anão

naine

cüce

قزم

νάνος

nana

nano

anã

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dwɔɹf/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: dwergh

Inherited from Old English: dweorg

Cognate with Scots: dwerch

Cognate with Old High German: twerc

Cognate with German: Zwerg

Cognate with Old Norse: dvergr

Cognate with Swedish: dvärg

Cognate with Old Frisian: dwirg

Cognate with Western Frisian: dwerch

Cognate with Middle Low German: dwerch

Cognate with Middle Dutch: dwerch

Cognate with Dutch: dwerg

In summary

From Middle English dwergh, dwerw, dwerf, from Old English dweorg, from Proto-West Germanic *dwerg, from Proto-Germanic *dwergaz.
Cognate with Scots droich, dwerch (“dwarf, midget”); Old High German twerc (German, Luxembourgish Zwerg (“dwarf”)); Old Norse dvergr (Danish dværg (“dwarf, midget”), Faroese dvørgur (“dwarf”), Icelandic dvergur (“dwarf”), Norwegian Bokmål dverg (“dwarf”), Norwegian Nynorsk dverg, verg (“dwarf”), Swedish dvärg (“dwarf”)); Old Frisian dwirg (Saterland Frisian Dwärch (“dwarf”), West Frisian dwerch (“dwarf”)); Middle Low German dwerch, dwarch, twerg (German Low German Dwarg (“dwarf”)); Middle Dutch dwerch, dworch (Dutch dwerg (“dwarf”)).
The Modern English noun has undergone complex phonetic changes. The form dwarf is the regular continuation of Old English dweorg, but the plural dweorgas would have given rise to dwarrows and the oblique stem dweorge- would have led to dwery. These forms are sometimes found as the nominative singular in Middle English texts and in English dialects. A parallel case is that of Old English burg giving burgh, borough, burrow, bury.