Dwarf

King James Dictionary

Dwarf n.

1. A general name for an animal or plant which is much below the ordinary size of the species or kind. A man that never grows beyond two or three feet in highth, is a dwarf. This word when used alone usually refers to the human species, but sometimes to other animals. When it is applied to plants, it is more generally used in composition as a dwarf-tree dwarf-elder. 2. An attendant on a lady or knight in romances.

DWARF, To hinder from growing to the natural size to lessen to make or keep small.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

DWARF is the rendering in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] of daq , a word (  Leviticus 21:20 ) denoting one of the physical disqualifications by which a priest was unfitted for service. The word means thin, lean, small . The conjecture that it here means a dwarf is plausible. But others regard it as meaning an unnaturally thin man a consumptive, perhaps.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) An animal or plant which is much below the ordinary size of its species or kind; especially, a diminutive human being.

(2): ( v. t.) To hinder from growing to the natural size; to make or keep small; to stunt.

(3): ( v. i.) To become small; to diminish in size.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Leviticus 21:20  Genesis 41:3 41:23

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Leviticus 21:20

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

dwôrf  : The rendering in English Versions of the Bible of the Hebrew word דּק , daḳ , "thin," "small," in  Leviticus 21:20 , where a list is given of physical failings which forbade man of the seed of Aaron to officiate at the altar, though he might partake of the sacrificial gifts. The precise meaning of the Hebrew word here is uncertain; elsewhere it is used of the lean kine ( Genesis 41:3 ) and blasted ears ( Leviticus 21:23 ) of Pharaoh's dream; of the grains of manna ( Exodus 16:14 ), of the still, small voice ( 1 Kings 19:12 ), of dust ( Isaiah 29:5 ), etc. Septuagint and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible , 390-405 ad) suggest defective eyes; but "withered" would perhaps best express the meaning. See Priests And Levites .

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( דִּק , Dak , beaten small, as in  Leviticus 16:12), an incorrect rendering ( Leviticus 21:20; Sept. Ἔφηλος , Vulg. Lippus ) for a lean or emaciated person, i.e., by disease (as in  Genesis 41:3-24;  Leviticus 13:30). (See Blemish).