Anything remains small without growth can be called dwarf.
If a person is extremely small and is never grows to the normal level you can use the term dwarf for those kind of people. But this use of the term is considered as offensive one and it is advisable to avoid this even for the person of that kind.
The word has its origin in stories where it is used for a creature like a small man who is known to have magic powers and usually lives and work under the ground and works especially with metal.
You can use the term for plant also that are very small in comparison to the normal plants. Sometimes if a new high rise building has been erected beside an old one and the old one start looking smaller then you can say that the new building has dwarfed the old one.
The word has its origin in stories where it is used for a creature like a small man who is known to have magic powers and usually lives and work under the ground and works especially with metal.
You can use the term for plant also that are very small in comparison to the normal plants. Sometimes if a new high rise building has been erected beside an old one and the old one start looking smaller then you can say that the new building has dwarfed the old one.
I say it is a small humanoid creation thats surrounds the object.