gnome
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: alchemy
astronomy
climatology
fantasy
human-sciences
meteorology
mysticism
mythology
natural-sciences
philosophy
pseudoscience
sciences
Etymology: From French gnome (“gnome”), from New Latin gnomus, used by Paracelsus as a synonym for pygmaeus (“pygmy”).
Inflected forms:
form: gnomes
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: An elemental (spirit or corporeal creature associated with a classical element) associated with earth.
pos: noun
examples: He adopts the Rosycrusian fancy of Gnomes, spirits which inhabit the earth, and who by their power form the ores of metals, and all the wonders met with in the inmost recesses of the globe.
Day belongs to the earthlier deities—the stern, the harsh, and the cold. Gnomes are the spirits of daily hours. Toil, thought, and strife, beset us: we have to work, to quarrel, and to struggle: we have to take our neighbours in; or, at least, to avoid their doing so by us.
Gnomes are perhaps the most useful of the elementals.
A gnome can carry a person with it as it swims through the soil, provided it is strong enough to lift the person. The gnome cannot, however, provide air for that person[…].
Elementals are the consciousness guiding the four classical elements of earth, fire, air, and water. These elementals are depicted as gnomes, salamanders, diminutive faeries known as sylphs, and merfolk, known as undines, respectively.
gloss: One of a race of imaginary human-like beings, usually depicted as short and typically bearded males, who inhabit the inner parts of the earth and act as guardians of mines, mineral treasure, etc.; in modern fantasy literature and games, when distinguished from dwarves, gnomes are usually smaller than dwarves and more focused on engineering than mining.
pos: noun
examples: When the trees were disposed of, the gnomes vanished again.
There were not one but four gnomes standing at his feet. “I nearly trod on you,” Daniel said. “What are you doing here?”
The gnomes just stood, looking up at him.
gloss: A person of a small stature or misshapen features, or of a strange appearance.
pos: noun
tags: derogatory
informal
gloss: The mountain pygmy owl, Glaucidium gnoma, a small owl of the western United States.
pos: noun
gloss: A small statue of a dwarf-like character, often bearded, placed in a garden.
pos: noun
examples: There were ornamental ponds and shrubs clipped into animal shapes, painted concrete gnomes sitting on mushrooms, pink flamingos standing on one leg[.]
Gnomes, more than any other garden feature, divide the gardening world. Once welcomed in the hallowed halls of the International Horticultural Exhibition at Chelsea, this year a lonesome gnome had the ignominity to be ejected from those same grounds, victim of a ban on all things mythical and unduly colourful.
My mother-in-law, who swears she is a good Lutheran but is also the most powerful Witch I have ever met, also has at least a dozen small lawn gnomes peeking out from beside her shrubs, next to the lilac bushes, and hanging out with the roses. My husband has already started our collection; as of this writing, four gnomes and one moss-covered rabbit hang out in the shrubbery by the front door, two gnomes live in the dining room, and one guards the perpetual pile of to-do paperwork that lives next to the computer.
gloss: An upper atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with thunderstorms, a compact blue starter.
pos: noun
gloss: A banker, especially a secretive international one.
pos: noun
tags: derogatory
often
examples: the gnomes of Zurich
So far the major beneficiaries of the boom in gold have been deposed South American dictators, Middle Eastern potentates, and the gnomes of Zurich.
1985, Fodor's, Fodor's ... London, Fodor's
For this is a creation of the City, of the country's financial heart, and of the gnomes of London who have financed it and supported it entirely on their own.
The gnomes of Wall Street can trade on rumors, but Warren will only invest after the sale or merger has been announced.
Related words: gnomide
kobold
salamander
sylph
undine
Derived words: garden gnome
gnomed
gnomedom
gnomefish
gnomekind
gnomelike
gnome-napping
gnome of Zürich
gnome of Zurich
gnome owl
gnome plant
gnomery
gnome sayin
gnome sort
gnomess
Gnometown
gnomette
gnomicide
gnomish
gnomophobia
lawn gnome
Rogergnome
underpants gnome
Translations:
lang: Albanian
word: Thopç
lang: Albanian
word: herr
lang: Bulgarian
word: джудже
roman: džudže
lang: Catalan
word: nan
lang: Czech
word: trpaslík
lang: Dutch
word: dwerg
lang: Finnish
word: kääpiö
lang: Finnish
word: maahinen
lang: French
word: gnome
lang: Galician
word: trasno
lang: Galician
word: anano
lang: Galician
word: abelurio
lang: Galician
word: perello
lang: Galician
word: cachizo
lang: Marathi
word: नोम
roman: nom
lang: Russian
word: гном
roman: gnom
lang: Russian
word: ка́рлик
roman: kárlik
lang: Spanish
word: enano