dwarf — meaning, definition (noun, verb)

adj

Etymology: From Middle English dwergh, dwerw, dwerf, from Old English dweorg, from Proto-West Germanic *dwerg, from Proto-Germanic *dwergaz. Cognate with Scots droich, dwerch (“dwarf, midget”); Old High German twerc (German, Luxembourgish Zwerg (“dwarf”)); Old Norse dvergr (Danish dværg (“dwarf, midget”), Faroese dvørgur (“dwarf”), Icelandic dvergur (“dwarf”), Norwegian Bokmål dverg (“dwarf”), Norwegian Nynorsk dverg, verg (“dwarf”), Swedish dvärg (“dwarf”)); Old Frisian dwirg (Saterland Frisian Dwärch (“dwarf”), West Frisian dwerch (“dwarf”)); Middle Low German dwerch, dwarch, twerg (German Low German Dwarg (“dwarf”)); Middle Dutch dwerch, dworch (Dutch dwerg (“dwarf”)). The Modern English noun has undergone complex phonetic changes. The form dwarf is the regular continuation of Old English 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.

Miniature.
“The specimen is a very dwarf form of the plant.”
“It is possible to grow the plants as dwarf as one desires.”

name

Etymology: A play on the related ELF object file format. The backronym “Debugging With Arbitrary Record Formats” has been suggested.

A standardized debugging file format.
“In debug mode, a compiled binary will include debugging symbols in the DWARF debugging format.”

noun

Etymology: From Middle English dwergh, dwerw, dwerf, from Old English dweorg, from Proto-West Germanic *dwerg, from Proto-Germanic *dwergaz. Cognate with Scots droich, dwerch (“dwarf, midget”); Old High German twerc (German, Luxembourgish Zwerg (“dwarf”)); Old Norse dvergr (Danish dværg (“dwarf, midget”), Faroese dvørgur (“dwarf”), Icelandic dvergur (“dwarf”), Norwegian Bokmål dverg (“dwarf”), Norwegian Nynorsk dverg, verg (“dwarf”), Swedish dvärg (“dwarf”)); Old Frisian dwirg (Saterland Frisian Dwärch (“dwarf”), West Frisian dwerch (“dwarf”)); Middle Low German dwerch, dwarch, twerg (German Low German Dwarg (“dwarf”)); Middle Dutch dwerch, dworch (Dutch dwerg (“dwarf”)). The Modern English noun has undergone complex phonetic changes. The form dwarf is the regular continuation of Old English 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.

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 as short with long beards, and sometimes as clashing with elves.
“[T]he elf king and his queen made a royal progress every noon with a splendid retinue of dwarves and sprites, […]”
“Nidavellir, which is sometimes called Svartalfheim, where the dwarfs (who are also known as dark elves) live beneath the mountains and build their remarkable creations.”
A person of short stature, often one whose limbs are disproportionately small in relation to the body as compared with typical adults, usually as the result of a genetic condition.
“The nurse exclaimed it when I finally arrived, a month late (a habit I have kept). That's how my parents found out that I was a little person, a dwarf, of short stature.”
An animal, plant or other thing much smaller than the usual of its sort.
“dwarf tree”
“dwarf honeysuckle”
A dwarf star.
“But none of those brown dwarfs were speeding along on a trajectory that would carry them out of the galaxy like “runaway” hypervelocity stars observed by astronomers in the last two decades. […] The study team said it’s likely the star was a companion to a white dwarf star, which is the remaining core of a dead star that has expelled the gases that serve as its nuclear fuel.”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English dwergh, dwerw, dwerf, from Old English dweorg, from Proto-West Germanic *dwerg, from Proto-Germanic *dwergaz. Cognate with Scots droich, dwerch (“dwarf, midget”); Old High German twerc (German, Luxembourgish Zwerg (“dwarf”)); Old Norse dvergr (Danish dværg (“dwarf, midget”), Faroese dvørgur (“dwarf”), Icelandic dvergur (“dwarf”), Norwegian Bokmål dverg (“dwarf”), Norwegian Nynorsk dverg, verg (“dwarf”), Swedish dvärg (“dwarf”)); Old Frisian dwirg (Saterland Frisian Dwärch (“dwarf”), West Frisian dwerch (“dwarf”)); Middle Low German dwerch, dwarch, twerg (German Low German Dwarg (“dwarf”)); Middle Dutch dwerch, dworch (Dutch dwerg (“dwarf”)). The Modern English noun has undergone complex phonetic changes. The form dwarf is the regular continuation of Old English 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.

To render (much) smaller, turn into a dwarf (version).
To make appear (much) smaller, puny, tiny; to be much larger than.
“The newly-built skyscraper dwarfs all older buildings in the downtown skyline.”
“The train bursts from Rusher Cutting Tunnel with explosive violence, the engine's exhaust soaring high into the air, but dwarfed by the mighty limestone cliffs on either side.”
To make appear insignificant.
“Bach dwarfs all other composers.”
To become (much) smaller.
To hinder from growing to the natural size; to make or keep small; to stunt.
“At present the whole sex is in a manner dwarfed and shrunk - into a race of beauties that seems almost another species”
“Even the most common moral ideas and affections […] would be stunted and dwarfed, if cut off from a spiritual background.”

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