gnomish

Variant of gnome

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:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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