▪ I. dwarf, n. and a.
(dwɔːf)
Pl. -fs; Forms: α. 1 duerᵹ, dweorᵹ, dweorh, 2 dwæruh, 4 dweruȝ, 4–5 dwerȝ(e, 5 dwergh, dwargh(e, duergh, dwerk, 5– 6 Sc. duerch(e, dorche, droich. β. 4 dweruf, 4–5 dwerf(e, dwerff(e, (dwrfe), 5–7 dwarfe, 6–7 dwarff(e, 7 dwearf, 5– dwarf. γ. 4 duerwe, durwe, dwarw, 5 dwerwh(e, dwerwe, dwerowe, duorow. δ. 5 dwery, duery, dueri.
[Comm. Teut.: OE. dweorᵹ, dweorh (:—dwerg), = OFris. dwirg, OLG. *dwerg (MDu. dwerch, Du. dwerg, MLG. dwerch, dwarch, LG. dwark, dwarf (Brem. Wbch.), dorf), OHG. twerg (MHG. twerc, Ger. zwerg), ON. dvergr, (Sw., Da. dverg):—OTeut. *dwergo-z:—Aryan type *dhwérg{supw}hos, represented phonetically in Gr. by σέρϕος (:—*τϝέρϕος) ‘midge’. In English the word shows interesting phonetic processes: (1) the original guttural and vowel came down in Sc. duerch, duergh (whence dorch, and by metathesis droich). (2) In Eng. dweorᵹ became regularly dwarf (eor—: ar as in bark; ᵹ—: f as in enough, draft). But (3) the pl. dweorᵹas became dwerwhes, dwerwes, dwerows, dwarrows; and (4) the inflected form dweorᵹe- gave dwerȝhe, dweryhe, dwerye, dwery. From these, by ‘levelling’, arose corresponding forms of the nom. sing. Parallel forms appear in bargh, barf, barrow, burrow, berry, from OE. beorᵹ (:—berg) hill, and burgh, borough, burrow, bury, Brough, (bʊrf, brʊf), from OE.burᵹ town.]
A. n.
1. a. A human being much below the ordinary stature or size; a pygmy.
| α a 700 Epinal Gloss. 686 Nanus vel pumilio, duerᵹ [so Erfurt and Cott.]. a 800 Erfurt Gloss. 1176 Humiliamanus, duerh. c 1050 Supp. ælfric's Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 190/17 Pygmæus..dweorᵹ. 11.. Semi-Sax. Voc. ibid. 539/20 Nanus, dwæruh. 13.. Sir Beues 2526 (MS. A.) Eueri man me clepede dweruȝ. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxii. 147 Þai er lytill, lyke dwerghs. a 1400–50 Alexander 1752 Slike a dwinyng, a dwaȝe & a dwerȝe as þi-selfe, A grub, a grege out of grace. c 1450 Holland Howlat 650 That wretchit dorche. 1460 Lybeaus Disc. 481 (Mätz.) The dwerk Teondeleyn Tok the stede be the rayne. 1483 Cath. Angl. 111/2 A Dwarghe, tantillus. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 395 Duerch [v.r. derch], I sall ding the. |
| β c 1325 Gloss W. de Biblesw. in Wright Voc. 167 Neym, a dwarw (dweruf). 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 231 A dwerf of þe kynrede of Mesenis. Ibid. IV. 301. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) viii. 98 Ȝacheus the Dwerf, that clomb up in to the Sycomour Tre. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 689/14 Hic tantillus, a dwarf. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 2058 A dwerffe shulde wende by hyr syde. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 6 Behind her farre away a Dwarfe did lag. 1668 Wood Life 24 July, Edward Price, dwarff, belonging to Mert. Coll., buried. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 99 ¶5 The Damsel..to avoid Scandal, must have a Dwarf for her Page. 1843–46 Grove Corr. Phys. Forces 3 If a dwarf on the shoulders of a giant can see further than the giant, he is no less a dwarf in comparison with the giant. |
| fig. 1707 Norris Humility v. 197 A dwarf in goodness. |
| γ 13.. K. Alis. 6266 Durwes al so he bysette Thikke and schort and gud sette. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2062 Þe duerwe yseiȝe her ginne Þer he sat in þe tre. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 134/2 Dwerowe (K. dwerwh, H., P. dwerwe, W. dwerfe), nanus. c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 806/9 Hic omunculus, a duorow. |
| δ 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. xxxiii. (ed. 1555), No dwery is but lyke a gyaunt longe. 1430–40 ― Bochas iii. i. (MS. Rawl. C 448 lf. 63 a/1) But it may falle a dwery [ed. 1554, lf. 70 b/2 Drewry] in his riht Toutraie a geaunt for al his gret myht. Ibid. vi. i. viii. (MS. Bodl. 263 lf. 298) Now as a crepil lowe coorbed doun, Now a duery [MS. Rawl. C 448 lf. 123 a, dueri] and now a Champioun. |
b. One of a supposed race of diminutive beings, who figure in Teutonic and esp. Scandinavian mythology and folk-lore; often identified with the elves, and supposed to be endowed with special skill in working metals, etc.
| 1770 Bp. Percy tr. Mallet's North. Antiq. v. (1847) 98 They made of his skull the vault of heaven, which is supported by four dwarfs, named North, South, East, and West. 1818 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XLVI. 26 The history of Laurin, king of the dwarves. 1834 Lytton Pilgrims of Rhine xxvi, The aged King of the Dwarfs that preside over the dull realms of lead. 1846 J. E. Taylor Fairy Ring Notes 363 The notion that the wicked elves or dwarfs had the power to steal children before their baptism is found also..in Iceland. |
2. a. An animal or plant much below the ordinary height or size of its kind or species.
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 222 The Crab-stock for Standards: For Dwarfs Stocks of the Paradise or Sweet-Apple-Kernel. 1719 London & Wise Compl. Gard. 113 The Beauty of Dwarfs consists in a low Stem, an open Head. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xiv. 158 You will be glad to entertain this pretty dwarf [the Persian Iris]. 1880 I. L. Bird Japan I. 170 The wistaria..As a dwarf, it covers the hills and roadsides, and as an aggressive liana it climbs the tallest trees. |
b. Astr. One of the class of smaller stars of greater density as distinguished from the larger diffuse stars or ‘giants’; without qualification or as dwarf star the term usu. denotes a star of the class comprising the majority of main-sequence stars (including the sun), as distinguished from a white dwarf (white a.).
| 1912 [see giant B. 1 c]. 1913 Observatory Aug. 326 One can predict the real brightness of a dwarf star from a knowledge of its spectrum. 1921 Discovery Sept. 236/1 After this stage is reached and the star attains a certain density, it falls off rapidly in temperature, and becomes a cooling dwarf. 1956 H. S. Jones in A. Pryce-Jones New Outl. Mod. Knowl. ii. 114 Other stars are so small that their diameters are less than one-hundredth of the Sun's. Such stars are called dwarfs. 1968 P. Moore Sky At Night II. xxix. 214 It used to be thought that a typical star..would end its career as a feeble Red Dwarf. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as dwarf-armour, dwarf-king; dwarf-worked (wrought by the dwarfs) adj.
| a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal 240 The pygmie-warriour runs to fight In his dwarf-armour. 1853 Dickens Lett. (1880) I. 317 Happy if I could do her any dwarf service. 1865 Kingsley Herew. iv, A gold ring..right royally dwarf-worked. 1884 Child Ballads ii. xli. 361/2 A dwarf-king, elf-king, hill-king. |
B. adj.
1. a. Of or pertaining to a dwarf; dwarfish; of unusually small stature or size; diminutive; pygmy.
| 1634 Randolph Muses' Looking-gl. v. i, Their stature neither dwarf nor giantish. 1686 Plot Staffordsh., Those little dwarf Spirits, we call Elves and Fairies. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 342 Salix herbacea; very dwarf. 1880 M. E. Braddon Just as I am vii, There were dwarf bookcases between the windows. 1882 Garden 25 Feb. 126/3 The sweet perfumed double yellow Wallflower..is much dwarfer than the old well-known yellow. |
b. transf. Small, puny, stunted.
| 1634 C. Fitzgeffrey Bless. Birthd. 23 (T.) Great is this mysterie of godliness Exceeding man's dwarf wit. |
2. a. Used as the specific or trivial name of plants and animals of a height or size much below the average of their kind. See the ns.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. ii. (1633) 3 Dwarfe Grasse is one of the least of Grasses. 1598 Florio, Garzetta..Also a dwarfe Hearon, or myre dramble. 1641 French Distill. i. (1651) 39 Ebulus or Dwarfe Elder. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 149 Dwarf-Box..is made use of for planting the..Edgings of Borders. 1832 Veg. Subst. Food 220 The dwarf kidney-bean..a native of India..erroneously called the French bean. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 66 Dwarf Birch..a low shrub. |
b. dwarf wainscoting: see quot. 1823. dwarf-wall, any low wall; spec. one which forms the basis of a palisade or railing, or which supports the joists under a floor.
| 1722 De Foe Plague (1884) 37 A Dwarf-wall with a Palisadoe on it. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 584 Dwarf-wainscotting, that wainscotting which does not reach to the usual height. Ibid., Dwarf-walls, those of less height than the story of a building. 1842–76 Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss., Dwarf Wainscoting..usually three, four, five or six feet high. Sometimes called a Dado. Dwarf Walls..sometimes the joists of a ground floor rest upon dwarf walls. 1892 Law Times Rep. LXVII. 487/1 Protected by dwarf walls on each side of the cutting. |
Hence ˈdwarfdom, state of a dwarf. ˈdwarfess, (rare), a female dwarf. ˈdwarfism, a dwarfed condition (in animals or plants). ˈdwarflike a. ˈdwarfship, the personality of a dwarf.
| a 1618 Sylvester Epist. i. Arctophilo to Arctoa Wks. 1880 II. 331/1 To see his dwarfship court you to my face. 1670 J. Smith Eng. Improv. Reviv'd 74 Dwarf-like trees. 1830 Coleridge Ch. & St. 111 With its dwarfdom exaggerated by the contrast. 1835 Anster tr. 2nd Pt. Faustus ii. (1887) 118 The dwarfess fair. 1847 Tennyson Princ. vii. 111 Half-crushed among the rest A dwarf-like Cato cower'd. 1865 Morn. Star 18 July, Upon the origin of dwarfism in animals..The cause of dwarfism the writer supposes to be an accelerated development. |
▪ II. dwarf, v.
(dwɔːf)
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To render dwarf or dwarfish; to hinder from growing to the natural size; to stunt in growth.
| a 1626 Bacon New Atl. (1886) 180 We make them greater or taller than their kind is; and contrariwise dwarf them and stay their growth. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 98 ¶1 The whole Sex is in a manner dwarfed and shrunk into a race of Beauties that seems almost another Species. 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 251 Such a limitation of the supply, as would dwarf a Plant to any considerable extent, would be fatal to the life of an Animal. 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. ix. 255 The seedlings were miserably dwarfed. |
2. transf. and fig. To render small, puny, or insignificant in extent, nature, character, mind, etc.
| 1638 W. Gilberte in Ussher's Lett. (1686) 494 He dwarfs his Understanding. 1690 Child Disc. Trade (1694) 219 Undoubtedly high Customs do as well dwarf Plantations as Trade. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 125 Not being dwarfed by the restraint of authority. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Wealth Wks. (Bohn) II. 74 The incessant repetition of the same hand-work dwarfs the man, robs him of his strength, wit, and versatility. |
3. To cause to look or seem small, as by the near presence of a much higher or larger object, or by removal to a distance. lit. and fig.
| 1850 Chambers' Papers for People IV. 3 It overshadowed and dwarfed the sinking throne of the Merovingian kings of France. 1870 Disraeli Lothair xxxi, There was an immense chandelier suspended in each of these rooms..dwarfing the apartments. 1894 Fenn In Alpine Valley I. 40 A herd of these [goats] on the other side of the valley, seemed to be dwarfed to the size of rabbits. |
4. intr. To become dwarf or dwarfed.
| 1833 Tennyson Poems 132 By him [Mark Antony] great Pompey dwarfs and suffers pain. 1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur 7 The region where the herbage began to dwarf. |
Hence ˈdwarfing vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §536 Dwarfing requireth a slow Putting forth, and lesse Vigour of Mounting. 1823 Byron Juan viii. lxvi, Tall and strong..Beyond the dwarfing city's pale abortions. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 113 The process of dwarfing is another illustration of the fact that leaf-buds can be converted into flower-buds. |