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Webster 1913 Edition

Dwarf

Dwarf

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Dwarfs
(#)
.
[OE.
dwergh
,
dwerf
,
dwarf
, AS.
dweorg
,
dweorh
; akin to D.
dwerg
, MHG.
twerc
, G.
zwerg
, Icel.
dvergr
, Sw. & Dan.
dverg
; of unknown origin.]
1.
An animal or plant which is much below the ordinary size of its species or kind.
☞ During the Middle Ages dwarfs as well as fools shared the favor of courts and the nobility.
Dwarf is used adjectively in reference to anything much below the usual or normal size; as, a
dwarf
pear tree;
dwarf
honeysuckle.
Dwarf elder
(Bot.)
,
danewort.
–
Dwarf wall
(Arch.)
,
a low wall, not as high as the story of a building, often used as a garden wall or fence.
Gwilt.

Dwarf

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dwarfed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Dwarfing
.]
To hinder from growing to the natural size; to make or keep small; to stunt.
Addison.
Even the most common moral ideas and affections . . . would be stunted and
dwarfed
, if cut off from a spiritual background.
J. C. Shairp.

Dwarf

,
Verb.
I.
To become small; to diminish in size.
Strange power of the world that, the moment we enter it, our great conceptions
dwarf
.
Beaconsfield.

Webster 1828 Edition

Dwarf

DWARF

,
Noun.
1.
A general name for an animal or plant which is much below the ordinary size of the species or kind. A man that never grows beyond two or three feet in highth, is a dwarf. This word when used alone usually refers to the human species, but sometimes to other animals. When it is applied to plants, it is more generally used in composition; as a dwarf-tree; dwarf-elder.
2.
An attendant on a lady or knight in romances.

DWARF

,
Verb.
T.
To hinder from growing to the natural size; to lessen; to make or keep small.

Definition 2024

dwarf

dwarf

English

Noun

dwarf ‎(plural dwarfs or dwarves)

  1. (mythology) Any member of a race of beings from (especially Scandinavian and other Germanic) folklore, usually depicted as having some sort of supernatural powers and being skilled in crafting and metalworking, often depicted as short, and sometimes depicted as clashing with elves.
  2. (now often offensive) A person of short stature, often one whose limbs are disproportionately small in relation to the body as compared with normal adults, usually as the result of a genetic condition.
  3. An animal, plant or other thing much smaller than the usual of its sort.
    dwarf tree; dwarf honeysuckle
  4. (astronomy) A star of relatively small size.

Usage notes

At first, dwarfs was the more common plural in English. After J. R. R. Tolkien used dwarves, it began to rise in popularity, and is now about as common as dwarfs.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

dwarf ‎(not comparable)

  1. (especially in botany) Miniature.
    The specimen is a very dwarf form of the plant.
    It is possible to grow the plants as dwarf as one desires.

Translations

Verb

dwarf ‎(third-person singular simple present dwarfs, present participle dwarfing, simple past and past participle dwarfed)

  1. (transitive) To render (much) smaller, turn into a dwarf (version).
  2. (transitive) To make appear (much) smaller, puny, tiny.
    • 2013 May-June, Kevin Heng, “Why Does Nature Form Exoplanets Easily?”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 184:
      In the past two years, NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has located nearly 3,000 exoplanet candidates ranging from sub-Earth-sized minions to gas giants that dwarf our own Jupiter.
    The newly-built skyscraper dwarfs all older buildings in the downtown skyline.‎
  3. (transitive) To make appear insignificant.
    Bach dwarfs all other composers.‎
  4. (intransitive) To become (much) smaller.
  5. To hinder from growing to the natural size; to make or keep small; to stunt.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)
    • J. C. Shairp
      Even the most common moral ideas and affections […] would be stunted and dwarfed, if cut off from a spiritual background.

Synonyms

Translations

Etymology

From Middle English dwerf, dwergh, dwerw, dwerȝ, from Old English dweorh, dweorg ‎(“dwarf”), from Proto-Germanic *dwergaz, cognate with Old High German twerc (German Zwerg), Old Norse dvergr (Swedish dvärg), Old Frisian dwirg, Middle Low German dwerch, dwarch, twerg (Low German Dwarg, Dwarch), Middle Dutch dwerch, dworch (Dutch dwerg). The Germanic word is perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer- ‎(“harm, deceive”); compare Sanskrit ध्वरति ‎(dhvárati, “to bend, hurt”), ध्वरस् ‎(dhvarás, “class of female demons”).

The Modern English noun has undergone complex phonetic changes. The form dwarf is the regular continuation of dweorg, but the plural dweorgas would have given rise to dwarrows and the oblique stem dweorge- would have led to dwery. These forms are sometimes found as the nominative singular in Middle English texts and in English dialects. A parallel case is that of Old English burg giving burgh, borough, burrow, bury.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: dwô(r)f, IPA(key): /dwɔː(ɹ)f/, IPA(key): /dɔɹf/
  • Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)f
Nain assis (Seated Dwarf, 19th century), a painting in the style of Spanish artist Francisco Goya
In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the seven dwarfs sing "Heigh-Ho", while walking on a log.

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