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# pygmy

«pygmy» in Mova's school dictionary: **A very small kind of a species, much smaller than its…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (pygmy); noun (a pygmy, pygmies)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (of animals and plants) A very small kind of a species, much smaller than its relatives, such as a pygmy hippo, pygmy goat or pygmy marmoset. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pygmy/#m1)

2) (often offensive) An old word for members of some peoples in Central Africa who are short; today people prefer to use the names of the peoples themselves, such as the Mbuti or Baka. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pygmy/#m2)

3) (informal, insulting) A person thought to be unimportant. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pygmy/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science and zoo topics, pygmy is part of animal names: pygmy hippo, pygmy seahorse, pygmy shrew, pygmy possum. In geography and history, children learn to name peoples respectfully. Phrases: pygmy hippopotamus, pygmy goat.

### examples

- The pygmy hippo lives in the forests of West Africa. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pygmy/#x1)
- A pygmy seahorse is smaller than your fingernail. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pygmy/#x2)
- The farm had three cheeky pygmy goats. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pygmy/#x3)
- The pygmy marmoset is one of the smallest monkeys. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pygmy/#x4)
- The pygmy possum sleeps through the cold winter in Australia. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pygmy/#x5)
- Our guide used the name Baka for the forest people instead of an old label. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pygmy/#x6)
- "I am your enemy," answered the valiant Pygmy, in his mightiest squeak. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pygmy/#x7)

### note

Plural pygmies. Also spelled pigmy. Safe to use for animals; for people, the word is often seen as insulting.

### In the corpora

- [African pygmy kingfishers are tiny kingfishers that mostly hunt insects in woods, not fish in rivers.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/160-the-congo-river/17/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «pygmy» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pygmy/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.