Word.ws English Dictionary

bantam

/ˈbæntəm/

bantam noun: any of several small chickens, especially of a breed that is a miniature version of another breed.

bantam: any of several small chickens, especially of a breed that is a miniature version of another breed
Image: Benny Mazur from Toledo, OH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

bantam (plural bantams)

  1. Any of several small chickens, especially of a breed that is a miniature version of another breed.
    • From the dairy we passed into the poultry-yard; and there I was introduced to a train of milk-white turkeys, and fowls of the same colour, a few bantams, and three galenies, Mrs. Helen's especial favourites, […]1829, Caroline Bowles Southey, Chapters on Churchyards, page 114
  2. A competitor in an age division between peewee and midget.
  3. (informal) a postage stamp much smaller than usual, noteably the UK 1870 halfpenny, and some WW2 era South African issues.
  4. (UK, historical, informal) a member of special World War I infantry units composed of men who were shorter than the standard military height requirement

Adjective

bantam (not comparable)

  1. Small or miniature.
    • Dragonflies may be bantam, but their appetite is bottomless.2013 April 1, Natalie Angier, “Nature’s Drone, Pretty and Deadly”, in The New York Times
  2. Spirited or aggressive.

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Bantam

Bantam

  1. (alternative) Alternative form of Banten (“province of Java”).

Noun (2) capitalized: Bantam

Bantam (plural Bantams)

  1. Someone connected with Bradford City A.F.C, as a fan, player, coach etc.
    • The Bantams bridged the gap between the bottom division of English league football and the Premier League to secure a place at Wembley, despite a 2-1 second-leg defeat.2013 January 22, Phil McNulty, “Aston Villa 2-1 Bradford (3-4)”, in BBC

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Bantam

Bantam

  1. The largest settlement on the Cocos Islands (Australia).
  2. A borough in the town of Litchfield, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States.
  3. An unincorporated community in Tate Township, Clermont County, Ohio, United States.

bantam meaning in Malay, Indonesian and Vietnamese

bantam in Malay

chicken
ayam katik

bantam in Indonesian

chicken
ayam katik, ayam kate, ayam katai

bantam in Vietnamese

chicken
gà ri

Forms of bantam

pluralbantams
pluralBantams

Plural of bantam: bantams

Origin of bantam

Borrowed from Dutch Bantam (Banten province in Java).

Words formed from bantam

Words that rhyme with bantam

Questions about bantam

What does bantam mean?
Bantam means any of several small chickens, especially of a breed that is a miniature version of another breed.
What is bantam in Malay?
Bantam in Malay is ayam katik. See Bantam meaning in Malay.
What part of speech is bantam?
Bantam can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce bantam?
Bantam is pronounced /ˈbæntəm/.
What is the plural of bantam?
The plural of bantam is bantams.

Words near bantam in the dictionary

  1. bansuri
  2. bansuris
  3. Banswara
  4. bant
  5. Banta
  6. bantam
  7. Bantam work
  8. bantamization
  9. bantamize
  10. bantamized
  11. bantamizes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bantam (page history and authors); Bantam (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bantam.wav.

Cite this entry: “bantam.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bantam. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.