(in stories) a creature like a small man with a pointed hat, who lives under the ground and guards gold and treasure （神话故事中的）地下宝藏守护神 a plastic or stone figure of a gnome, used to decorate a garden （装饰花园的）守护精灵像 More Like This Silent lettersSilent letters
Word Originmid 17th cent.: 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).