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Gnome vs Hobgoblin - What's the difference?

gnome | hobgoblin | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between gnome and hobgoblin

is that gnome is a brief reflection or maxim; a pithy saying while hobgoblin is a small, ugly goblin that makes trouble for humans.

As a proper noun GNOME

is an open source, free software computer desktop environment for Unix operating systems.

gnome

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A brief reflection or maxim; a pithy saying.
  • * 1996 , , Giorgio A. Pinton, Arthur W. Shippee (translators), The Art of Rhetoric'', [1711-1741, Giambattista Vico, ''Institutiones Oratoriae ], page 125,
  • The Greeks in their tongue call this second type of maxim noema''. The gnome''' is more appropriate to the philosophers, and the noema to the orators, to the poets, and to the historians. To speak by '''gnomes alone was referred to by the Greeks as "philosophizing" which we Italians would render as "to mouth maxims" (''sputar sentenze ).
  • * 2003 , Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, Tragedy and Athenian Religion , page 386,
  • Thus, the gnome''''' concerning the precarious nature of, and the potential suffering in, human life sent by the gods uttered by Electra is deconstructed by her choice of paradigm. By using Tantalos as an illustration, the play overturns the apparent meaning of the '''''gnome .
    Synonyms
    * adage, apothegm, maxim, paroemia, proverb, sententia

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (magic, alchemy, Rosicrucianism) An elemental (spirit or corporeal creature associated with a classical element) associated with earth.
  • * 1811 , The Medical and Physical Journal , Volume 25, page 138,
  • He adopts the Rosycrusian fancy of Gnomes , spirits which inhabit the earth, and who by their power form the ores of metals, and all the wonders met with in the inmost recesses of the globe.
  • * 2006 , Greg Lynch, RuneQuest Monsters , page 52,
  • Gnomes are perhaps the most useful of the elementals.
    A gnome' can carry a person with it as it swims through the soil, provided it is strong enough to lift the person. The ' gnome cannot, however, provide air for that person.
  • * 2007 , Christopher Penczak, Ascension Magick: Ritual, Myth and Healing for the New Aeon , page 413,
  • Elementals are the consciousness guiding the four classical elements of earth, fire, air, and water. These elementals are depicted as gnomes , salamanders, diminutive faeries known as sylphs, and merfolk, known as undines, respectively.
  • (mythology, fantasy literature) One of a legendary race of human-like beings, usually imagined as short bearded males, who inhabit the inner parts of the earth and act as guardians of mines, mineral treasure, etc.
  • * 2011 , Ross Lawhead, The Realms Thereunder , page 251,
  • There were not one but four gnomes standing at his feet. “I nearly trod on you,” Daniel said. “What are you doing here?”
    The gnomes just stood, looking up at him.
  • A dwarf; a goblin; a person of small stature or misshapen features, or of strange appearance.
  • The (northern pygmy owl), , a small owl of the western United States.
  • A small statue placed in a garden to ward off pests and protect a home from sorcery.
  • * 2011 , Bronwen Forbes, The Small-Town Pagan's Survival Guide , page 72,
  • My mother-in-law, who swears she is a good Lutheran but is also the most powerful Witch I have ever met, also has at least a dozen small lawn gnomes' peeking out from beside her shrubs, next to the lilac bushes, and hanging out with the roses. My husband has already started our collection; as of this writing, four '''gnomes''' and one moss-covered rabbit hang out in the shrubbery by the front door, two ' gnomes live in the dining room, and one guards the perpetual pile of to-do paperwork that lives next to the computer.
  • (astronomy, meteorology) An upper atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with thunderstorms, a compact blue starter.
  • Derived terms
    * garden gnome

    See also

    * kobold * salamander (elemental of fire) * sylph (elemental of air) * undine (elemental of water)

    References

    * * * ----

    hobgoblin

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small, ugly goblin that makes trouble for humans.
  • * 1837 , Albany Fonblanque, England Under Seven Administrations , Volume 1, page 98,
  • A M. Berbiguier lately published an elaborate work, in three huge volumes, in which he demonstrated the existence of hobgoblins', described the proper manner of capturing and securing them, and took credit to himself for his zeal for the benefit of mankind, in allowing no day to pass without imprisoning, with his own hands, at least thirty '''hobgoblins'''. A writer of biographical notices of contemporary authors, who believed neither in M. Berbiguier's manner of catching '''hobgoblins''' nor in the existence of ' hobgoblins did not scruple to say that M. Berbiguier was mad, and upon this M. Berbiguier brought his action for libel; but unluckily, together with his action, he brought himself into Court, and established in a very few words the truth of the libel.
  • * 2007 , Introduction: Phonoplay: Recasting Film Music'', Daniel Goldmark, Lawrence Kramer, Richard D. Leppert (editors), ''Beyond the Soundtrack: Representing Music in Cinema , page 1,
  • The monster goes unrecognized because he looks like a harmless, pudgy nobody rather than like a hobgoblin'. But he reveals his ' hobgoblin nature through music.
  • * 2005 , Scott Harper, Winter's Rite , page 142,
  • The eyes blinked out and he heard a faint grunt, followed by the sounds of the Hobgoblin scrambling further back into the tunnel, away from the faint sunlight and the Ur'hunglav's domain.
  • (by extension) A source of dread, fear or apprehension; a bugbear.
  • *
  • * 2004 , James Mulvihill, Upstart Talents: Rhetoric and the Career of Reason in English Romantic Disccourse 1790-1820 , page 55,
  • Under "Fallacies of Danger," then, is listed the subhead of "The Hobgoblin''' Argument, or, No Innovation'', in which the '''hobgoblin''' in question is ''anarchy''; which tremendous spectre has for its forerunner the monster ''innovation''." A hot button like this would presumably elicit a visceral response even from Hamilton whose aversion to the ' hobgoblin of parliamentary reform was apparently his sole unreasoning reflex.
  • * 2011 , John Mueller, Mark G. Stewart, Terror, Security, and Money: Balancing the Risks, Benefits, and Costs of Homeland Security , page 190,
  • However, the public seems to have been able to retain much of its sense of alarm about internal attacks even when the al-Qaeda hobgoblin doesn't actually carry any out.