Etymograph

English

midget

Midget comes from Old English myċġ ‘mosquito’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mus-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mus-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mugjō1‘little fly, midge, mosquito’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*muggju2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150myċġ1‘mosquito’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1930midget1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English midget
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English mycg
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1930, Walter de la Mare, [The Children’s Bookshop] Children and Childhood: “They [children] realize their oughts no less sharply than…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mus-Wiktionary, English midgetreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mugjōWiktionary, English midget‘little fly, midge, mosquito’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*muggjuWiktionary, Old English mycgreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150myċġWiktionary, English midget‘mosquito’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1930midgetWiktionary, English midget. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1930, Walter de la Mare, [The Children’s Bookshop] Children and Childhood: “They [children] realize their oughts no less sharply than…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mus-

must, musket, 14 more

Today it means

noun A very small thing; especially one which is conspicuously smaller than expected or by comparison.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “midget”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English mycg. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mus- / midget

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