gnome 
guardian: see gtiouit jl , </<>;.] 1. 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 regard- 
ed as the special guardians of mines ami miners, malicious 
in all other relations, and extremely ugly and misshapen; 
while the females of the race, culled i/nomiiles, 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. 
Swift on his sooty pinions flits the gnome, 
And in a vapour reach'd the dismal dome. 
Pope, R. of the L., iv. 17. 
Pope has made admirable use in this fine poem ["Rape 
of the Lock "] of the fabled race of gnomes. Warburton. 
Hence 2. A grotesque dwarf; a goblin-like 
person of small stature and misshapen figure. 
3. A name of sundry humming-birds : as, the 
giant gnome (Patagona gigas). =syn. 1. Goblin, etc. 
See/ir. 
gnomed (nomd), a. [<#0Me 2 -t- -ed 2 .] Haunt- 
ed or inhabited by a gnome or gnomes. [Poeti- 
cal.] 
The haunted air and gnomed mine. Keats, Lamia, ii. 
gnome-owl (nom'oul), n. A small owl of the 
genus Glaucidium (which see). 
gnomic 1 (no'mik), a. [< Gr. yvuuiKof, dealing 
in maxims, sententious, < yv&fui, a maxim : see 
gnome 1 .] 1. Containing or dealing in maxims ; 
sententious. 
There is a really gnomic force in the use to which he 
[Heywood] puts his power in the few serious words at the 
close of this interlude. 
A. W. Ward, Eng. Dram. Lit., I. 186. 
The sententious, satiric song, to be met with in the 14th, 
58th, and 82d Psalms, . . . this Ewald calls gnomic po- 
etry. Gilftllan, Bards of the Bible, p. 63. 
The Ballad of Arabella is one of those familiar pieces of 
satire indulged in more frequently by newspaper wags 
than by gnomic poets. N. A. Rev., CXXVI. 184. 
2. In gram. , used in maxims or general state- 
ments; applied to express a universal truth: 
as, a gnomic aorist. 
gnomic 2 (no'mik), a. A contracted form of 
gnomonic. 
gnomical 1 (no'mi-kal), a. [< gnomic 1 + -al.~} 
Same as gnomic 1 . 
gnomical- (no'mi-kal), a. [< gnomic 2 + -al.] 
Same as gnomonic. 
He may have given him a dial furnished with a magnetic 
needle, rather than an ordinary gnomical dial. 
Boyle, Works, V. 427. 
gnomically (no'mi-kal-i), adv. In a sententious 
manner; sententiously. 
gnomide (no'mid), n. [< gnome% + -ide?.] A 
female gnome. See gnome 2 , 1. 
gnomologic (no-mo-loj'ik), a. [< Gr. yvafioAo- 
yuwifj sententious, < yvofio^oyia, a speaking in 
maxims: see gnomology.] Of or pertaining to 
gnomology. 
gnomological (no-mo-loj'i-kal), a. Same as 
gnomologic. 
gnomology (no-mol'o-ji), 11. [< Gr. yvufiofoyia, 
a speaking in maxims, a collection of maxims, 
< yv&fo/, a maxim, + -Aoywz, < "tJkytm, speak: see 
-ology.] A collection of or treatise on maxims 
or sententious and pithy reflections. [Rare.] 
gnomon (no'mon), . [Early mod. E. also gnow- 
man, knowman (simulating know 1 + man); = 
F. gnomon = Sp. gnomon = Pg. gnomon = It. 
gnomone, < L. gnomon, < Gr. yva/jon>, one that 
knows or examines, a judge, interpreter, a car- 
penters' square, the index of a sun-dial, a gno- 
mon in geometry, etc. , < ytyvaoKuv, yvovai, know : 
see gnome 1 ."] 1. On a sun-dial, the triangular 
projecting piece which by its shadow shows the 
hour of the day; also, any index to a sun-dial 
or to a meridian-mark, especially a very large 
one. The early gnomons used for astronomical 
purposes were vertical pillars or obelisks. 
Gnomone [It.], the knoic-man or gnou'-man of a diall, 
the shadow whereof pointeth out the bowers. Florio. 
The shadow of the style in the dyall, which they call the 
gnomon, in Egypt, at noonetide, in the equinoctiall day, 
is little more in length than halfe the gnomon. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, ii. 72. 
I do not say there is such Difficulty to conceive a Rock 
standing still when the Waves run by it ; or the Gnomon 
of a Dial when the Shaddow passes from one Figure to an- 
other. Stillinyfleet, Sermons, III. vi. 
2. The index of the hour-circle of a globe. 3. 
A piece of a parallelogram left after a similar 
has been re- / 
2555 
4. An odd number; one of the terms of an arith- 
metical series by which polygonal numbers are 
found. Also called gnomonic unmix r. 
gnomonic (no-mou'ik), a, [< L. gnomoiiicus, 
< Or. yvufiov/KOf, of or for sun-dials, < yvuiiuv, 
a gnomon: see gnomon.'] 1. Pertaining to the 
art of dialing. 
Ono of those curious gnomonic instruments, that show 
at once the place of the sun in the zodiac, his declination 
from the equator, the day of the month, the length of the 
day, etc. Boyle, Works, V. 898. 
2. In hot., bent at right angles.- 
Also ynomii: i/inimical. 
Onomonic column. See column, i. Gnomonic num- 
ber. See gnomon, 4. Qnomqnic projection, a projec- 
tion of the circles of the sphere in which the point of sight 
is taken at the center of the sphere. In this projection 
all great circles appear as straight lines. 
gnomonical (no-mon'i-kal), a. Same as gno- 
monic. 
gnomonically (no-mon'i-kal-i), adv. In a gno- 
monic manner ; according to the principles of 
the gnomonie projection. 
gnomonics (no-mon'iks), . [PI. of gnomonie: 
see -icx. Cf. it. gnomonica and gnomonice, < Gr. 
yvu/jovinf/ (sc. rtxyn), the art of dialing, fern, of 
yvu/ioviKOf. see gnomonic.] The art or science 
of dialing, or of constructing instruments to 
show the hour of the day or to aid in making 
astronomical observations by the shadow of a 
gnomon. 
By making it afford him the elevations of the pole, and 
the azimuths, sun-dials of all sorts, enough to make up an 
Boyle, Works, VI. 776. 
(X gnomon + -4st.] 
corner of it. 
7 
~7 
Thus, in the fig- 
ure, EFGBCD 
/ 
/ 
A 
G 
B 
is a gnomon. 
Gnomon. 
, 
art called gnomonicks. 
gnomonist (no'mon-ist), w. 
One versed in gnomonics. 
The sun enables the gnomonist to make accurate dials, 
to know exactly how the time passes. 
Boyle, Works, VI. 418. 
gnomonology (no-mp-nol'o-ji), . [< Gr. yv&- 
fjiuv, a gnomon, + -ioyla, < 'Atysiv, speak : see 
-ology.~\ A treatise on dialing. 
gnoo, . See gnu. 
Gnophria (nof'ri-a), n. [NL. (Stephens), ir- 
reg. < Gr. yvwj>ep6g' f or Svotepo*;, dark, murky.] 
A genus of bombycid moths, of the family IA- 
thosiida, containing such species as G. rubricol- 
lis, known as the black footman-moth. 
Gnorimus (nor'i-mus), n. [NL. (Serville, 1825), 
< Gr. yvupifiof, known, < yiyvaaKCtv, yvuvat, know : 
see gnome 1 .] A genus of cetonian lamellicorn 
beetles, containing a few large species, chiefly 
of Europe and Asia, which live on flowers. 
One, G. maculosus, is North American. 
gnoseology (no-se-ol'o-ji), n. [< Gr. yvaatf, 
knowledge (see gnosis), -r- -'koyia, < %eyeiv, speak: 
see -ology.'] The nomological science of the 
cognitive faculties in general. Also called gnos- 
tology. 
Baumgarten, to whom the honor of having projected thia 
science belongs, defines it as " the theory of the liberal 
arts, inferior to gnoseotogy, the art of beautiful thought, 
. . . the science of cognition." 
New Princeton Rev., II. 26. 
gnosis (no'sis), n. [< Gr. yvuaif, knowledge, < 
yiyvaoKctv, yvuvai, know, = E. know : see know 1 , 
and cf . gnome 1 , gnostic.] Science ; knowledge ; 
knowledge of the highest kind; specifically, 
mystical knowledge. See Gnostic. 
The designation of mystery or vailing is applied to it 
[the occult or mystic system], as having been vailed from 
all except the initiated. The doctrines thus concealed 
were denominated Gnosis or Knowledge, and Sophia, or 
wisdom, and were accounted too sacred for profane or 
vulgar inspection. 
A. Wilder, Knight's Anc. Art and Myth. (1870), p. 4. 
His [Origen's] gnosis neutralizes all that is empirical 
and historical, if not always as to its actuality, at least ab- 
solutely in respect of its value. Encyc. Brit., XVII. 842. 
According as Gnosticism adopted one or other of these 
modes of explaining the existence of the present world, 
it fell into the two great divisions which, from their places 
of origin, have received the respective names of the Alex- 
andrian and Syrian Gnosia. Encyc. Brit., X. 704. 
The common Christian lives by faith, but the more ad- 
vanced believer has gnosis, or philosophic insight of Chris- 
tianity, as the eternal law of the soul. 
J. F. Clarke, Ten Great Religions, vi. 7. 
gnostic (nos'tik), a. and n. [< Gr. yvuariKdf, 
knowing (as a noun^rVwo-rwof, > LL. Gnosticus, 
a Gnostic; usually in pi.); fern. 7} yvuariKt/, or 
neut. TO yvuariK&v, the power or faculty of know- 
ing (used with reference to yvaotf, knowledge, 
esp. higher or deeper knowledge); < yvurrrof, 
collateral form of yvurof, verbal adj. of yiyva- 
axeiv, yvuvai = L. noscere = E. know: see know 1 , 
gnome 1 , and cf. gnosis, agnostic, etc.] I. a. 1. 
Having knowledge ; possessing mystic or eso- 
teric knowledge of spiritual things. 
Idealism is not necessarily either gnostic or agnostic, 
but is more apt to be the former than the latter. 
R. Flint, Mind, XIII. 596. 
gnu 
2. Worldly-wise; knowing; clever or smart. 
[Humorous.] 
I said you were ad d ynoxtiz fellow, and I laid a bet 
you have not been always professional that's all. 
Scott, St. Ronnn's Well, v. 
3. [cay<.] Pertaining to the Gnostics or to Gnos- 
ticism; cabalistic; theosophic. 
Marcion distinguished himself by his extreme opposi- 
tion to Judaism, and generally by a Gnostic attitude at va- 
riance with the Old Testament. Enryc. Brit., X. 704. 
II. n. [cfip.~\ A member of one of certain ra- 
tionalistic sects which arose in the Christian 
church in the first century, flourished in the 
second, and had almost entirely disappeared 
by the sixth. The Gnostics held that knowledge rather 
than faith was the road to heaven, and professed to have 
a peculiar knowledge of religious mysteries. They re- 
jected the literal interpretation of the Scriptures, and at- 
tempted to combine their teachings with those of the Greek 
and Oriental philosophies and religions. They held that 
God was the unknowable and the unapproachable; that 
from him proceeded, by emanation, subordinate deities 
termed eons, from whom again proceeded other still In- 
ferior spirits. The Gnostics were in general agreed in 
believing in the principles of dualism and Docetism and 
in the existence of a demiurge or world-creator. Christ 
they regarded as a superior eon, who had descended from 
the Infinite God in order to subdue the god or eon of this 
world. Their chief seats were in Syria and Egypt, but 
their doctrines were taught everywhere, and at an early 
date they separated into a variety of sects. 
After Christianity began to be settled in the world, the 
greatest corrupters of it were the pretenders to divine In- 
spiration, as the false Apostles, the Gnosticlcs, the Monta- 
nists, and many others. Stttlingfleet, Sermons, II. ii. 
Setting out from this principle, all the Gnostics agree in 
regarding this world as not proceeding immediately from 
the Supreme Being. Encyc. Brit., X. 704. 
Gnostical (nos'ti-kal), a. [< Gnostic + -al.] 
Same as Gnostic. 
Lipsius, one of the mo'st recent and careful writers on 
the subject, arranges the Gnostical systems in a threefold 
order. Encyc. Brit., X. 702. 
gnostically (nos'ti-kal-i), adv. 1. In a gnos- 
tic or knowing manner; cleverly; knowingly. 
[Humorous.] 
"I say, little Sir Bingo," said the Squire, "this is the 
very fellow that we saw down at the Willow-slack on Sat- 
urday he was tog'd gnostically enough, and cast twelve 
yards of line with one hand the fly fell like a thistle-down 
on the water." Scott, St. Ronan's Well, Iv. 
2. According to Gnosticism ; after the method ' 
or manner of the Gnostics. 
Gnosticism (nos'ti-sizm), n. [< Gnostic + -ism.] 
The religious and metaphysical system of the 
Gnostics ; belief in or tendency toward Gnostic 
doctrines. 
Gnosticize (nos'ti-slz), i: t. ; pret. and pp. Gnos- 
ticized, ppr. Gnosticizing. [< Gnostic + -ize.~\ To 
interpret as a Gnostic ; give a Gnostic coloring 
to. 
He [Heracleon] sought ingeniously to gnoxticize the whole 
book [the fourth Gospel] from beginning to end. 
E. II. Sears, The Fourth Gospel the Heart of Christ, p. 156. 
Attempts to Christianize paganism, to conciliate Juda- 
ism, or to gnosticize Christianity. Encyc. Brit., XI. 854. 
Gnostidse (nos'ti-de), n. pi. [NL., < Gnostws 
+ -ida.] A family of clavicorn beetles, tak- 
ing name from the genus Gnostus, having three 
genera, of one tropical species each. 
gnostology (nos-tol'o-ji), n. [< Gr. yvuarof, 
known, + -'Aoyia, < Myetv, speak : see -ology.] 
Same as gnoseology. 
GnostUS (nos'tus), n. [NL. (Westwood, 1855), 
< Gr. yvoarof, collateral form of jwriif, known, 
to be known, < yiyvwaKuv , yvovai, know : see 
gnosis, gnostic.] 1. The typical genus of bee- 
tles of the family Gnosticla'. The sole species is 
G. formicicola of Brazil, which lives in ants' nests. It has 
normal eyes, but is notable in its antennae, trophi, legs, 
venation, and number of abdominal segments. 
2. A genus of bugs, of the family Capsidte. Fie- 
bet; 1858. 
gnowt. A Middle English preterit of gnaw. 
gnu (nu), n. [Also written gnoo; < Hotten- 
tot gnu or nju.] An African animal of the ge- 
nus Catoblcpas (or Connbchtptex), belonging to 
Common or White-tailed Gnu (Catobiefai 
