Log in or Sign up
gnome love

gnome

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One of a fabled race of dwarflike creatures who live underground and guard treasure hoards.
  • noun In the occult philosophy of Paracelsus, a being that has earth as its element.
  • noun A pithy saying that expresses a general truth or fundamental principle; an aphorism.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A brief reflection or maxim; an aphorism; a saying; a saw.
  • noun Synonyms See aphorism.
  • noun One of a race of imaginary beings, first conceived as spirits of the earth, inhabiting its interior and that of everything earthly, animal, vegetable, or mineral.
  • noun Hence A grotesque dwarf; a goblin-like person of small stature and misshapen figure.
  • noun A name of sundry humming-birds: as, the giant gnome (Patagona gigas).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An imaginary being, supposed by the Rosicrucians to inhabit the inner parts of the earth, and to be the guardian of mines, quarries, etc.
  • noun A dwarf; a goblin; a person of small stature or misshapen features, or of strange appearance.
  • noun (Zoöl.) A small owl (Glaucidium gnoma) of the Western United States.
  • noun A brief reflection or maxim.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A brief reflection or maxim; a pithy saying.
  • noun A legendary being, supposed to be short, usually bearded men who inhabit the inner parts of the earth, and act as guardians of mines, treasure, etc.
  • noun The elemental being of earth.
  • noun A dwarf; a goblin; a person of small stature or misshapen features, or of strange appearance.
  • noun zoology A small owl (Glaucidium gnoma) of the Western United States.
  • noun A small statue placed in a garden to ward off pests and protect a home from sorcery.
  • noun astronomy, meteorology An upper atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with thunderstorms, a compact blue starter.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a short pithy saying expressing a general truth
  • noun a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from New Latin gnomus, earth elemental in the occult philosophy of Paracelsus, of unknown origin.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek gnōmē, from gignōskein, to know; see gnō- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek γνώμη (gnome, "thought, opinion"), from the base of γιγνώσκειν (gignoskein, "to know")

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French gnome ("gnome"), from New Latin gnomus, used by Paracelsus as a synonym for Pygmaeus ("pygmy")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word gnome.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • brtom commented on the word gnome

    "On a step a gnome totting among a rubbish tip crouches to shoulder a sack of rags and bones."

    Joyce, Ulysses, 15

    January 28, 2007

  • sonofgroucho commented on the word gnome

    Why not visit "Home for Gnomes", my Flickr Group?

    February 5, 2007

  • oroboros commented on the word gnome

    Also: an aphorism or short pithy saying.

    February 7, 2007

  • reesetee commented on the word gnome

    Gnome headwear explained.

    October 9, 2008

  • frogapplause commented on the word gnome

    Love it, reesetee!

    October 9, 2008

  • reesetee commented on the word gnome

    Probably helps them look taller.

    October 9, 2008

  • bilby commented on the word gnome

    Joins: Anyushka

    Hey dude, where's Gnome???!!!! I miss him!

    Lol An, Gnome's a bot ...

    October 10, 2008

  • chained_bear commented on the word gnome

    "I'm not trying to jinx us all by calling for an October Surprise. This election has been surprising enough. A placid lope toward Election Day would be just fine with me. The only surprise I'd like to see would be press conferences in which follow-up questions were allowed. But I'm more likely to find woodland gnomes in my garden." Seen here.

    October 29, 2008

  • reesetee commented on the word gnome

    I too like the idea of a "placid lope toward Election Day."

    *sigh*

    October 29, 2008

  • elisheba commented on the word gnome

    rien poortvliet, wil huygens, "gnomes": a book, a myth!

    October 30, 2008

  • dinkum commented on the word gnome

    WORD: gnome

    DEFINITION:

    n. A helpful sprite. Cf., "The Elves and the Shoemaker" who appear in The Brothers Grimm.
    << http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elves_and_the_Shoemaker >>

    EXAMPLE:

    ' "The gnomes are like the cleaners that come in at night and clean the office at the business," said Mary Mark Ockerbloom, who worked for the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia on a special Wikipedia project. "You don't necessarily see them, but, boy, if they weren't there, it'd be a different place."

    ' Thomsen agrees. But since he suffered a stroke in January, he has begun to question whether his legacy could be more than that of a Wikignome.

    --- " Philadelphian is a king of Wikipedia editors "
    Theodore Schleifer, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer, September 2, 2013
    << http://articles.philly.com/2013-09-03/news/41691958_1_south-philadelphia-march-13-david-thomsen >>

    September 11, 2013

  • bilby commented on the word gnome

    It's not a Wordnik problem, the definitions are pulled from other databases.

    September 11, 2013