Gnome
[nəʊm]
Definition
(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.
Edited by Dorothy--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) An imaginary being, supposed by the Rosicrucians to inhabit the inner parts of the earth, and to be the guardian of mines, quarries, etc.
(n.) A dwarf; a goblin; a person of small stature or misshapen features, or of strange appearance.
(n.) A small owl (Glaucidium gnoma) of the Western United States.
(n.) A brief reflection or maxim.
Edited by Kelsey
Definition
n. a pithy and sententious saying generally in verse embodying some moral sentiment or precept.—Gnomic poets a class of writers of this form in Greek literature.
n. a sprite guarding the inner parts of the earth and its treasures: a dwarf or goblin.
Inputed by Cleo
Unserious Contents or Definition
n. In North-European mythology a dwarfish imp inhabiting the interior parts of the earth and having special custody of mineral treasures. Bjorsen who died in 1765 says gnomes were common enough in the southern parts of Sweden in his boyhood and he frequently saw them scampering on the hills in the evening twilight. Ludwig Binkerhoof saw three as recently as 1792 in the Black Forest and Sneddeker avers that in 1803 they drove a party of miners out of a Silesian mine. Basing our computations upon data supplied by these statements we find that the gnomes were probably extinct as early as 1764.
Editor: Theresa
Examples
- And she could see in his brown, gnome's eyes, the black look of inorganic misery, which lay behind all his small buffoonery. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Gnomes have nothing to do with the south, said Crispin provokingly. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Do the gnomes assault one another Over some new vein of gold but lately discovered? Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- I know not indeed whether it be the dead or the gnomes, But I hear the noise of battle tumultuous! Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
Inputed by Kelly