gnome
noun
[ nəʊm ]
• a legendary dwarfish creature supposed to guard the earth's treasures underground.
Origin:
mid 17th century: from French, from modern Latin gnomus, a word used by Paracelsus as a synonym of Pygmaeus, denoting a mythical race of very small people said to inhabit parts of Ethiopia and India (compare with pygmy).
gnome
noun
• a short statement encapsulating a general truth; a maxim.
Origin:
late 16th century: from Greek gnōmē ‘thought, opinion’ (related to gignōskein ‘know’).
