Midget


 * For the car, see MG Midget or Daihatsu Midget. For the band see Midget (band).

In the 19th century, midget was a medical term referring to an extremely short but normally proportioned person and was used in contrast to dwarf, which denoted disproportionate shortness. Like many other older medical terms, as it became part of popular language, it was usually used in a pejorative sense. When applied to a person who is very short, midget is now often considered offensive, an example of the euphemism treadmill.

The word "dwarf" has generally replaced "midget" even for proportionally short people, though the term "little person" is preferred. According to the Little People of America, dwarfism is "a medical or genetic condition that usually results in an adult height of 4'10" (147 cm) or shorter, among both men and women, although in some cases a person with a dwarfing condition may be slightly taller than that."

Modern terminology now distinguishes between the two types of dwarfism using the terms proportionate dwarfism, such as primordial dwarfism, and disproportionate dwarfism, such as achondroplasia. Proportionate dwarfism is often the result of a hormonal deficiency (such as human growth hormone), and it may be treated medically.