dwarfism en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈdwɔːfɪzəm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
- /ˈdwɔɹfɪzəm/ (General-American)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *dwergaz Proto-West Germanic *dwerg Old English dweorg Middle English dwergh English dwarf Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English dwarfism From dwarf + -ism.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) The condition of being a dwarf (person of short stature).
Studies of disproportionate dwarfisms in animals have revealed the importance of core proteins an sulfation in the development of cartilage.
1985, J. D. Esko et al., “Animal Cell Mutants Defective in Glycosaminoglycan Biosynthesis”, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, volume 82, number 10, page 3200:They didn’t find out I had achondroplastic dwarfism until a few months later. “Achondroplasia” is a word that haunted me in my childhood. I never wanted to hear it. It wasn’t who I was. I was not different.
2014 September 12, Cara Reedy, “My life as a little person”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Feb 2016:Sure enough, they are hard to miss. As a non-binary trans drag queen with dwarfism, [Tamm] Reynolds must be in a minority of one.
2026 March 30, Alex Needham, “‘If I didn’t have dwarfism, I’d probably be quite normcore’: Midgitte Bardot on sex, drag and street harassment”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2026:
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(countable, uncountable) The quality of being puny or inferior.
Childish, childish to the core: that's why they're so good at nursing, they're arrested in a state of permanent intellectual dwarfism themselves!
2011, Peter Burt, Fables, page 124:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| dwarfisms | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
insular dwarfism · Lenz-Majewski hyperostotic dwarfism · Silver-Russell dwarfism · semidwarfism · Amsterdam dwarfism · Russell-Silver dwarfism · island dwarfism
Translations (29)
eo naneco (condition of being a dwarf) · el νανισμός (condition of being a dwarf) · fi kääpiökasvuisuus (condition of being a dwarf) · gl ananismo (condition of being a dwarf) · ru ка́рликовость (condition of being a dwarf) · sh patuljasti rast (condition of being a dwarf) · fa کوتولگی (condition of being a dwarf) · it nanismo (condition of being a dwarf) · ro nanism (condition of being a dwarf) · gl nanismo (condition of being a dwarf) · ca nanisme (condition of being a dwarf) · ast nanismu (condition of being a dwarf) · no dvergvekst (condition of being a dwarf) · fr nanisme (condition of being a dwarf) · sv kortvuxenhet (condition of being a dwarf) · pt nanismo (condition of being a dwarf) · id dwarfisme (condition of being a dwarf) · km ភាពតឿ (condition of being a dwarf) · de Kleinwuchs (condition of being a dwarf) · vi hội chứng lùn (condition of being a dwarf) · es enanismo (condition of being a dwarf) · sh nanosomija (condition of being a dwarf) · sv dvärgväxt (condition of being a dwarf) · pl karłowatość (condition of being a dwarf) · ja 小人症 (condition of being a dwarf) · tr cücelik (condition of being a dwarf) · vi chứng thấp lùn (condition of being a dwarf) · cmn 侏儒症 (condition of being a dwarf) · kk ергежейлік (condition of being a dwarf)