πυγμαῖος

Forms

πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos) m (feminine πυγμαίᾱ, neuter πυγμαῖον); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist; cubit”) with the suffix -αῖος (-aîos), and so means “a πυγμή (pugmḗ) tall”: that was a measure of length, from the elbow to the knuckles, eighteen finger-breadths.^[1][2][3][4] The noun belongs with the adverb πύξ (púx, “with the fist”).^[2][5] Chantraine finds clear cognates only in Latin pugil (“boxer”) and pugnus (“fist”), and connects the whole group with Latin pungō (“to prick”), the clenched fist being what one strikes with.^[2] Pokorny puts it under a root meaning “to prick, to punch”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Iliad already has the plural Πυγμαῖοι, the Pygmies, a dwarfish race that the cranes make war on.^[6][7][2]

Semantic evolution

The Pygmies remained a people of legend, placed in various regions, most often on the upper Nile.^[7][2] Herodotus uses the adjective of dwarfish men, comparing a statue of Hephaestus to a “pygmy man”,^[7][8] and Aristotle and Philodemus use it in the same way.^[7] Later, Philostratus applies it to something a cubit high.^[7][2] Ancient lexicographers glossed it “short” and connected it with πυγών (pugṓn), the cubit.^[9]

Latin borrowed the people's name as Pygmaei, from which English has pygmy (late 14th century).^[10] Modern Greek πυγμαίος (pygmaíos) is learned; it means a very short person, and Πυγμαίοι now names peoples, mostly in Central Africa, whose adults are on average under 150 centimetres tall.^[11][12][13]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad tells of the cranes bringing death to the Pygmies.^[6][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Hecataeus places the Pygmies in his geography.^[2][14]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus compares a statue of Hephaestus to a pygmy man.^[7][14]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses the adjective of dwarfish people and mentions the Pygmies.^[7][14]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Philostratus uses it of something a cubit tall.^[7][14]
• Late 14th century – English takes pygmy through Latin.^[10]
• Modern Greek – The learned πυγμαίος (pygmaíos) means a very short person.^[11][12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. A cubit long or tall.^[7][15]
2. Of people: dwarfish.^[7][15][8]

Proper noun

1. οἱ Πυγμαῖοι, the Pygmies, a legendary race of dwarfs, usually placed on the upper Nile, who were attacked by the cranes.^[7][6][15]

Related words

• πυγμή (pugmḗ)
• πύξ (púx)
• πυγών (pugṓn)
• Latin pugnus
• English pygmy

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
3. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ Smith, William, ed. (1873), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
5. ^ a b Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
6. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Woordenboek Grieks/Nederlands (2012–), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, https://woordenboekgrieks.nl
9. ^ Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
13. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
14. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
15. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press