pygmy=البيغمي

pygmy=البيغمي

ONLINE ETYMOLOGY DICTIONARY:

pygmy (n.)

late 14c., Pigmei, "member of a fabulous race of dwarfs," described by Homer and Herodotus and said to inhabit Egypt or Ethiopia and India, from L. Pygmaei (sing. Pygmaeus), from Gk. Pygmaios, originally plural of an adjective meaning "dwarfish," lit. "of the length of a pygme; a pygme tall," from pygme "cubit," lit. "fist," the measure of length from the elbow to the knuckle; related to pyx "with clenched fist" and to L. pugnus "fist" (see pugnacious). Believed in 17c. to refer to chimpanzees or orangutans. The ancient word was applied by Europeans to the equatorial African race 1863, but the tribes probably were known to the ancients and likely were the original inspiration for the legend.