From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
gnome
n 1: a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the
depths of the earth and guards buried treasure [syn:
dwarf]
2: a short pithy saying expressing a general truth
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gnome \Gnome\, n. [F. gnome, prob. fr. Gr. gnw`mon one that
knows, a guardian, i. e., of the treasures in the inner parts
of the earth, or fr. ? intelligence, both fr. gnw^nai,
gignw^skein, to know. See Know.]
1. An imaginary being, supposed by the Rosicrucians to
inhabit the inner parts of the earth, and to be the
guardian of mines, quarries, etc.
[1913 Webster]
2. A dwarf; a goblin; a person of small stature or misshapen
features, or of strange appearance.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Zool.) A small owl (Glaucidium gnoma) of the Western
United States.
[1913 Webster]
4. [Gr. ?.] A brief reflection or maxim. --Peacham. Gnomic
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
GNOME
GNU Network Object Model Environment