A gnome [gəˈnoʊm] is a fictional humanoid creature characterized by its extremely small size and subterranean lifestyle. The word gnome is derived from the New Latin gnomus. It is claimed to descend from the Greek γνώσις gnosis, "knowledge", but more likely comes from genomos "earth-dweller", in which case the omission of e is, as the OED calls it, a blunder.
Paracelsus includes gnomes in his list of elementals, as earth elementals. He describes ...
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A gnome [gəˈnoʊm] is a fictional humanoid creature characterized by its extremely small size and subterranean lifestyle. The word gnome is derived from the New Latin gnomus. It is claimed to descend from the Greek γνώσις gnosis, "knowledge", but more likely comes from genomos "earth-dweller", in which case the omission of e is, as the OED calls it, a blunder.
Paracelsus includes gnomes in his list of elementals, as earth elementals. He describes them as two spans high, and very taciturn. It is possible that Paracelsus simply made the name up. Sometimes they are seen as a type of fairy, though at other times are seen as a distinct species in their own right.
The gnome is one of similar but subtly different creatures in European folklore; mythical creatures such as goblins and dwarves are often represented as gnomes, and vice versa. A fairytale describes little brownie-like creatures called "Heinzelmännchen" as nocturnal helpers for mundane tasks dwelling in the city of Cologne, they...
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