pygmaeus

Forms

pygmaeus (feminine pygmaea, neuter pygmaeum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] As a noun, Pygmaeī m pl (genitive Pygmaeōrum), with the singular Pygmaeus.^[2] Manuscripts often spell it pigme-.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos, “fist-sized”);^[1] the people's name, Πυγμαῖοι (Pugmaîoi), comes from πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist”).^[2][4] Georges renders the name as “fist-sized ones”, that is, tiny people.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ovid (43 BC–18 AD) has the adjective in the Fasti, where the crane is the bird that “rejoices in Pygmy blood”.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

As a noun, Pygmaeī named a legendary race of dwarfs, usually placed in Ethiopia and said to be always at war with the cranes;^[2][4][7] Pomponius Mela, Pliny the Elder and Gellius write of them.^[2][4][7] The singular, one of this race, is found in the Priapea.^[7] Juvenal's virgo pygmaea is simply a dwarf woman.^[4][5]

Jerome, commenting on Ezekiel, where the Vulgate has Pigmei, took them to be warriors and explained the name from πυγμή (pugmḗ) in the sense of fighting.^[3] English borrowed the plural in the late 14th century as Pigmei.^[8]

Timeline

• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid speaks of Pygmy blood, using the adjective.^[4][6]
• 43/44 AD – Pomponius Mela writes of the Pygmies.^[4][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder places them in his geography.^[4][6]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal calls a dwarf woman virgo pygmaea.^[4][5][6]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome interprets the Pigmei of Ezekiel as warriors.^[3][6]
• late 14th century – English borrows the name as Pigmei.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to the Pygmies.^[2][4]
2. Dwarfish, short, of small stature.^[1][5]

Noun

1. (plural, Pygmaeī) The Pygmies, a legendary race of dwarfs said to fight the cranes; in the singular, one of them.^[2][4]

Related words

• Pygmaeī
• English pygmy

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com