Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Pygmy \Pyg"my\, n.; pl. {Pygmies}. [L. pygmaeus, Gr. ?, fr. ?
   the fist, a measure of length, the distance from the elbow to
   the knuckles, about 131 inches. Cf. {Pugnacious}, {Fist}.]
   [Written also {pigmy}.]
   1. (Class. Myth.) One of a fabulous race of dwarfs who waged
      war with the cranes, and were destroyed.

   2. Hence, a short, insignificant person; a dwarf.