/ˈdwɔːfn/, U.S. /ˈd(w)ɔrfən/, 1900s– dwarven. dwarvenadj.
/ˈdwɔːvn/, U.S. /ˈd(w)ɔrvən//ˈdwɔːfn/, U.S. /ˈd(w)ɔrfən/, 1900s– dwarven. 1. Chiefly in form dwarfen. Very small or short; smaller than is usual or expected; = dwarfish adj. 1 (literal and figurative). Somewhat rare.
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1839 D. B. Kelly Manor of Glenmore II. xxii. 164 The dwarfen beech which overhung the stream, were there thickly intermingled with some hazel copsewood.
1914 Burnley News 20 May 7/4 Lives that were dwarfen and guided only by self-interest or self-gratification.
1997 M. Ruff Sewer, Gas & Electric xiv. 233 Those enormous European cathedrals that seem fabricated from a different reality than that of the dwarfen secular buildings surrounding them.
2. In fantasy fiction, games, etc.: of or relating to dwarves (see dwarf n. 3); (also) of the nature of a dwarf. Cf. dwarfish adj. 2.Although apparently first used in this sense by J. R. R. Tolkien in writings concerning his fictional world of Middle Earth (see quot. ?c1920), this word does not occur in any of Tolkien's published works before his death in 1973, and is rare before the end of the 1970s.
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?c1920 J. R. R. Tolkien Nauglafring in C. Tolkien Hist. Middle-earth: Bk. Lost Tales (1984) II. iv. 227 A sword of dwarven steel brought from afar was hilted with bright gold.
1979 Sentinel Star (Orlando, Florida) 27 Apr. (Fling! section) 1 b/3 Next, the player [sc. of the roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons] selects the character's ‘race’: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Half-Elven, Halfling, Half-Orc, or Human.
1992 Dragon Mag. Feb. 80/1 An ogre emerges as an unlikely saviour of the dwarven race.
2020 University Wire 2 Apr. The player can take control of one of four preset characters: a dwarven barbarian, a lady knight, a veteran ranger or a mage.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2022).
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adj.1839