Pigwidgeon

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small, mischievous fairy or sprite in folklore, or a person of diminutive size or insignificant importance
2. A diminutive supernatural being known for playful or naughty behavior in traditional stories
3. A very small magical creature often depicted as playful and tricky in folklore

Etymology: Michael Drayton's comic fairy poem "Nymphidia" gives one of the earliest known appearances of a fairy called Pigwiggen, a tiny knight who rides a gnat into battle. The name is probably the source for the later sense of a small, tricky sprite, though the exact route is uncertain. Before that, the element "pig" in such words seems to have been used as a playful way of marking something small or insignificant, as in other diminutive coinages. Dictionaries generally treat the full origin as unclear, so the most secure link is to Drayton's little knight rather than to any older folk creature.