bantam

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a chicken of a naturally small breed or a miniature variety of a larger breed

   A bantam scratched beside hens twice its size in the farmyard.

2. 2
   adj

   unusually small or miniature, sometimes with an implication of boldness despite small size

   The breeder displayed a bantam rooster with bright feathers and a confident stance.

From Bantam, an older European spelling of Banten in Java, a trading port associated with small domestic fowl. The place name became the English breed name and then an adjective for something notably small; bantamweight preserves that extension in combat sports.

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