bantam

¹

[ ban-tuhm ]

noun

1. (often initial capital letter) a chicken of any of several varieties or breeds characterized by very small size.
2. a small and feisty or quarrelsome person.

adjective

1. diminutive; tiny:

   bantam editions of the classics.

   Synonyms: Lilliputian, pygmy, wee, small, miniature, petite

Bantam

²

[ ban-tuhm; Dutch bahn-tahm ]

noun

1. a village in W Java, in S Indonesia: first Dutch settlement in the East Indies.

bantam

/ ˈbæntəm /

noun

1. any of various very small breeds of domestic fowl
2. a small but aggressive person
3. See bantamweight
   boxing short for bantamweight
4. 1. an age level of between 13 and 15 in amateur sport, esp ice hockey
   2. ( as modifier )

      bantam hockey

Word History and Origins

Origin of bantam¹

1740–50; apparently after Bantam, through which such chickens may have been imported to Europe

Word History and Origins

Origin of bantam¹

C18: after Bantam village in Java, said to be the original home of this fowl

Example Sentences

Lonard thinks ha-ha-ha and tells Bantam that the rights have reverted to him, which they have.

From The Daily Beast

Bantam calls and says, “We must publish Juvenal [original title].”

From The Daily Beast

This seems like a bit too much bantam strutting, when the jury is literally still out in much of the country.

From The Daily Beast

Heinz wrote the book in his makeshift den, a bantam-size office that he had constructed off the TV room in a corner of his garage.

From The Daily Beast

In another study, “one man reported that he felt compelled to incubate and help hatch out a clutch of bantam chickens.”

From The Daily Beast

The little bantam can crow quicker, oftener and with more ginger than any other rooster on the place.

From Project Gutenberg

The mud was too deep for the Shanghai to run and the bantam killed him.

From Project Gutenberg

The full-bred Bantam-cock should not weigh more than a pound.

From Project Gutenberg

Then he put the seven eggs in the nest carefully, and got the little bantam hen and put her in, too.

From Project Gutenberg

Mother Bantam would cluck and run back and forth in the coop and call to them, she was so afraid something would happen.

From Project Gutenberg