midget

English

Etymology

Diminutive of midge (from Old English myċġ (“mosquito”), from Proto-Germanic *mugjō, from Proto-Indo-European *mus-, *mu-, *mew-; 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".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪd͡ʒɪt/
• Rhymes: -ɪd͡ʒɪt

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

Portrait of Sebastián de Morra (c. 1645) by Diego Velázquez. The subject of the painting, a midget or dwarf, was a jester at the court of Philip IV of Spain.

midget (plural midgets)

1. (originally) A little sandfly.

   Although tiny and just two-winged, midgets can bite you till you itch all over your unprotected skin.

2. (loosely) Any small swarming insect similar to the mosquito; a midge.
3. (sometimes offensive) A normally-proportioned person with small stature, usually defined as reaching an adult height less than 4'10". [from later 19th c.]
4. (sometimes offensive) Any short person.
5. (attributively, now sometimes offensive) A small version of something; miniature.

   the midget pony

Usage notes

• Used for an insect, this is a variation on midge that is commonly used.
• Use of this word may be considered offensive, even when describing something other than a person.

Synonyms

• (person below 4'10"): dwarf (loosely), little person
• (derogatory: any small person): dwarf, short-arse, shortie/shorty, tich/titch, vertically challenged person (humorous)
• (swarming insect): midge
• (miniature): dwarf
• munchkin
• elf

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “derogatory: any small person”): giant
• (antonym(s) of “miniature”): giant

Hyponyms

• (a small person): manikin, homunculus, pygmy, lilliputian

Derived terms

• crib midget
• mental midget
• midget car
• midget cell
• midget-esque
• midget golf
• midgetly
• midget-minded
• midget tossing

 

Translations

person of small stature of adult height less than 4'10"

• Arabic: قَزَم m (qazam)
• Armenian: թզուկ (hy) (tʻzuk)
• Azerbaijani: cırtdan
• Basque: nano, epotx
• Bulgarian: джудже (bg) n (džudže)
• Burmese: ပုတို (my) (pu.tui)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 侏儒 (zh) (zhūrú)

• Czech: trpaslík (cs) m
• Danish: dværg
• Dutch: dwerg (nl)
• Finnish: kääpiö (fi)
• French: nain (fr) m, naine (fr) f
• Georgian: ჯუჯა (ka) (ǯuǯa)
• German: Zwerg (de) m, Zwergin (de) f, Liliputaner (de) m, Liliputanerin (de) f
• Italian: nano (it) m, nana (it) f
• Japanese: 小人 (ja) (こびと, kobito), ちび (ja) (chibi), ミゼット (mizetto)
• Lao: ຄົນແຈ້ (lo) (khon chǣ)
• Latin: salapūtium n
• Macedonian: џуџе n (džudže), кепец m (kepec)
• Maori: whito, whē, whena
• Mongolian: одой хүн (odoj xün)
• Polish: karzeł (pl) m, karlica (pl) f, liliput (pl) m, liliputka f
• Portuguese: anão (pt) m, anã f
• Russian: лилипу́т (ru) m (lilipút), лилипу́тка (ru) f (lilipútka)
• Spanish: enano (es) m
• Swedish: dvärg (sv) c
• Tagalog: unano (tl)
• Thai: คนเล็ก (kon lék), คนแคระ (kon kráe)
• Tibetan: མིའུ་ཐུང (mi'u thung), མི་ཆུང (mi chung)
• Vietnamese: rất nhỏ, chú lùn

loosely: a midge — see midge

derogatory: any short person

• Albanian: shkurtabiq (sq) m, shkurtalaq m, shkurtaq m
• Bulgarian: дребосък (bg) m (drebosǎk)
• Czech: zakrslík m
• Danish: gnom, mandsling
• Dutch: dwerg (nl) m
• Finnish: kääpiö (fi), skäfä
• French: nain (fr) m, naine (fr) f, nabot (fr) m
• Galician: rebolo (gl) m
• German: Zwerg (de) m, Zwergin (de) f, Winzling (de) m, Gnom (de) m
• Irish: cnádaí
• Italian: nano (it) m, nana (it) f
• Latin: nanus m, nana f
• Macedonian: џуџе n (džudže), кепец m (kepec)
• Polish: kurdupel (pl) m
• Portuguese: anão (pt) m
• Russian: ка́рлик (ru) m (kárlik), ка́рлица (ru) f (kárlica)
• Spanish: chichón de piso m, retaco (es) m
• Swedish: dvärg (sv) c
• Tagalog: pandak
• Yiddish: קאַרליק m (karlik)

attributively: that is the small version of something

• Czech: mini-, malý (cs), maličký (cs)
• Danish: dværg-; mini-
• Dutch: dwerg-, mini- (nl)
• Finnish: kääpiö-
• German: Zwerg-; mini- (de), Mini-
• Italian: mini- (it)
• Portuguese: mini- (pt)
• Swedish: dvärg- (sv), mini- (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} enano (es) m

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “midget”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.