Bantam (adjective)

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Originally, Bantam stands for a breed of small domestic chicken hailing from Indonsia. Bantam is believed to be a bastardization of Bataan, a port in Indonesia, where European sailors first came in contact with the breed.

Bantam roosters being used in cockfighting, the sailors quickly became impressed with the the 'fire' of these diminutive fighters. (Although much of the ferocity attested to the breed is simply the spectator's own surprise at seeing so much energy in such a small packet) Drawing from that example, the term bantam rooster, bantam fighter, or simply bantam became an expression for an undersized prizefighter. The introduction of the Bantam Weight class as the lightest weight class in professional boxing popularized the expression even further and in the end bantam as an adjective came to mean "small, but powerful" , "small but spirited"or "small, but able to pull some punches".

Related to that, Bantam as a product or company name reflects the idea that the company or product in question is small but powerful and more than able to hold its own against bigger competitors.

For a list of products named 'bantam' read the bantam disambiguation page