[gnome] n [Gk gnome, fr. gignoskein to know--more at know] (1577): maxim, aphorism
[2]gnome n [F, fr. NL gnomus] (1712) 1: an ageless and often deformed dwarf of folklore who lives in the earth and usu. guards treasure
2: an elemental being in the theory of Paracelsus that inhabits earth -- gnome.like adj -- gnom.ish adj