A gnome [nəʊm] is a diminutive chthonic spirit in Renaissance magic, alchemy and in later fantasy fiction.
The word is from Renaissance Latin gnomus, a word apparently coined by Swiss alchemist Paracelsus. Paracelsus uses Gnomi as a synonym of Pygmæi. He is perhaps deriving the term from Latin gēnomos (itself representing a Greek γη-νομος, literally "earth-dweller". In this case, the omission of the ē is, as the OED calls it, a blunder. Alternati...
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A gnome [nəʊm] is a diminutive chthonic spirit in Renaissance magic, alchemy and in later fantasy fiction.
The word is from Renaissance Latin gnomus, a word apparently coined by Swiss alchemist Paracelsus. Paracelsus uses Gnomi as a synonym of Pygmæi. He is perhaps deriving the term from Latin gēnomos (itself representing a Greek γη-νομος, literally "earth-dweller". In this case, the omission of the ē is, as the OED calls it, a blunder. Alternatively, the term may be an original invention of Paracelsus. Paracelsus includes gnomes in his list of elementals, as earth elementals. He describes them as two spans high, and very taciturn.
The English word is attested from the early 18th century but it remains obscure until the early 19th century, when it is taken up by authors of Romanticist collections of fairy tales, where it became mostly synonymous with the older word goblin.
The chthonic elemental spirit has precedents in numerous ancient and medieval mythologies, often guarding mines...
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