Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DWARF, n. [Sax. dwerg, dweorg; D. dwerg; Sw. id.; Dan. dværg.]

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. – Spenser.
3. To hinder from growing to the natural size; to lessen; to make or keep small. – Addison.