bantam
UK[ˈbæntəm]US[ˈbæntəm]
n
A breed of very small domestic fowl.
n
A small but aggressive or spirited person.
adj
Small and lightweight; diminutive.
Etymology
The word 'bantam' originates from Bantam, the former name of Banten, a port city on the island of Java in Indonesia. European traders in the 18th century encountered and brought back small, lightweight fowl from this region. The name of the place was thus directly applied to the breed of chicken. Over time, the term broadened semantically through metaphorical extension; the perceived feisty nature of the small roosters led to 'bantam' describing a small but aggressive person, and its adjectival use came to denote anything small and lightweight, detached from its original geographical reference.
Analysis
The word 'bantam' is a simplex word. It is a toponym, derived from the name of a place, and functions as a single, unsegmentable unit in modern English.
Examples
She keeps a flock of bantams in her backyard.
Despite his size, he was a bantam on the basketball court, fiercely competing for every ball.
The company specializes in bantam components for lightweight electronics.