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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Dwarf \Dwarf\, n.; pl. {Dwarfs}. [OE. dwergh, dwerf, dwarf, AS.
dweorg, dweorh; akin to D. dwerg, MHG. twerc, G. zwerg, Icel.
dvergr, Sw. & Dan. dverg; of unknown origin.]
1. An animal or plant which is much below the ordinary size
of its species or kind.
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2. Especially: A diminutive human being, small in stature due
to a pathological condition which causes a distortion of
the proportions of body parts to each other, such as the
limbs, torso, and head. A person of unusually small height
who has normal body proportions is usually called a
{midget}.
[PJC]

Note: During the Middle Ages dwarfs as well as fools shared
the favor of courts and the nobility.
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3. (Folklore) A small, usually misshapen person, typically a
man, who may have magical powers; mythical dwarves were
often depicted as living underground in caves.
[PJC]

Note: Dwarf is used adjectively in reference to anything much
below the usual or normal size; as, a dwarf pear tree;
dwarf honeysuckle.
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{Dwarf elder} (Bot.), danewort.

{Dwarf wall} (Arch.), a low wall, not as high as the story of
a building, often used as a garden wall or fence. --Gwilt.
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Dwarf \Dwarf\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dwarfed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Dwarfing}.]
To hinder from growing to the natural size; to make or keep
small; to stunt. --Addison.
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Even the most common moral ideas and affections . . .
would be stunted and dwarfed, if cut off from a
spiritual background. --J. C.
Shairp.
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Dwarf \Dwarf\, v. i.
To become small; to diminish in size.
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Strange power of the world that, the moment we enter
it, our great conceptions dwarf. --Beaconsfield.
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