Meaning

(magic, alchemy, Rosicrucianism) An elemental (spirit or corporeal creature associated with a classical element) associated with earth..

Definitions by Sense

1. (magic, alchemy, Rosicrucianism) An elemental (spirit or corporeal creature associated with a classical element) associated with earth.
2. (mythology, fantasy) 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.
3. (informal, derogatory) A person of a small stature or misshapen features, or of a strange appearance.
4. The mountain pygmy owl, Glaucidium gnoma, a small owl of the western United States.
5. A small statue of a dwarf-like character, often bearded, placed in a garden.
6. (astronomy, meteorology) An upper atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with thunderstorms, a compact blue starter.
7. (often derogatory) A banker, especially a secretive international one.
8. A brief reflection or maxim; a pithy saying.

Example Sentences

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.

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.

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.

Word Forms

• gnomes
• gnomae
• gnomai

Synonyms for gnome

Related Words

When Should You Use Gnome?

Use gnome when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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