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gnome

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The definition of a gnome is a dwarf-like creature that, according to legend, is supposed to guard buried treasure under the earth.

(noun)

A dwarf-like creature who guards buried treasure under the earth is an example of a gnome.
A garden ornament in the form of a little man with a beaded hat is an example of a gnome.

See gnome in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

Folklore any of a race of small, misshapen, dwarflike beings, supposed to dwell in the earth and guard its treasures

Origin: Fr < ModL gnomus < Gr gnōmē (see gnome): so called by Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus, prob. from the belief that gnomes had occult knowledge of the earth

Related Forms:

gnomish adjective

noun

a wise, pithy saying; maxim

Origin: LL, a sentence, maxim < Gr gnōmē, thought, judgment, intelligence < gignōskein, to know

See gnome in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

One of a fabled race of dwarflike creatures who live underground and guard treasure hoards.
In the occult philosophy of Paracelsus, a being that has earth as its element.

Origin:

Origin: French

Origin: , from New Latin gnomus

Related Forms: