gnome

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. One of a fabled race of dwarflike creatures who live underground and guard treasure hoards.
2. n. In the occult philosophy of Paracelsus, a being that has earth as its element.
3. n. A pithy saying that expresses a general truth or fundamental principle; an aphorism.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A brief reflection or maxim; an aphorism; a saying; a saw.
2. n. Synonyms See aphorism.
3. n. One of a race of imaginary beings, first conceived as spirits of the earth, inhabiting its interior and that of everything earthly, animal, vegetable, or mineral. The gnomes ultimately came to be regarded as the special guardians of mines and miners, malicious in all other relations, and extremely ugly and misshapen; while the females of the race, called gnomides, not more than a foot high, were endowed with supreme beauty and goodness, and, being the special guardians of diamonds, were chiefly known in the countries that produced them.
4. n. Hence A grotesque dwarf; a goblin-like person of small stature and misshapen figure.
5. n. A name of sundry humming-birds: as, the giant gnome (Patagona gigas). =Syn. l. Goblin, etc. See fairy.

Wiktionary

1. n. A brief reflection or maxim; a pithy saying.
2. n. A legendary being, supposed to be short, usually bearded men who inhabit the inner parts of the earth, and act as guardians of mines, treasure, etc.
3. n. The elemental being of earth.
4. n. A dwarf; a goblin; a person of small stature or misshapen features, or of strange appearance.
5. n. zoology A small owl (Glaucidium gnoma) of the Western United States.
6. n. A small statue placed in a garden to ward off pests and protect a home from sorcery.
7. n. astronomy, meteorology An upper atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with thunderstorms, a compact blue starter.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. 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.
2. n. A dwarf; a goblin; a person of small stature or misshapen features, or of strange appearance.
3. n. (Zoöl.) A small owl (Glaucidium gnoma) of the Western United States.
4. n. A brief reflection or maxim.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a short pithy saying expressing a general truth
2. n. a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure