Meaning

noun an unusually small individual

noun any member of various peoples having an average height of less than five feet

originFrom Latin Pygmaeī, from Ancient Greek πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos, “a member of a race of dwarves”), from πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist (as small as a fist)”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0