Midget
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɪdʒɪt
Origin
Diminutive of midge (from Old English mygg, mycg ("gnat"), from Proto-Germanic *mugjÅ; cognate with Dutch mug ("mosquito") and German Mücke ("midge, gnat")), using the suffix -et, originally (1865) for a "little sand fly", only around 1869 also a "very small person".
Noun
midget
(plural midgets)- (originally) A little sandfly.''Although tiny and just two-winged, midgets can bite you manyfold till you itch all over your unprotected skin
- (loosely) Any small swarming insect similar to the mosquito; a midge
- A normally proportioned person with small stature, usually defined as reaching an adult height less than 4'10". from later 19th c.
- (sometimes derogatory) Any short person.
- (attributively) That is a small version of something; miniaturethe midget pony
Usage notes
Used for an insect, this is a variation on midge that is incorrect but commonly used.
Synonyms
- (person below 4'10") dwarf loosely
- (derogatory: any small person) dwarf, short-arse, shortie/shorty, tich/titch, vertically challenged person humorous
- (swarming insect) midge
- (miniature) dwarf