GNOMES (Fr. gnomes, Ger. Gnomen)  , in folk-lore, the name now commonly given to the earth and mountain spirits who are supposed to watch over veins of precious metals and other hidden treasures . They are usually pictured as bearded dwarfs clad in brown close-fitting garments with hoods . The word " gnome " as applied to these is of comparatively modern and somewhat uncertain origin . By some it is said to have been coined by Paracelsus (so Hatzfeld and Darmesteter, Dictionnaire), who uses Gnomi as a synonym of Pygmaei, from the Greek yvwjz , intelligence . The New English Dictionary, however, suggests a derivation from genomus, i.e. a Greek type ygvbµos, " earth-dweller," on the analogy of 9akavvovoµos, " dwelling in the sea," adding, however, that though there is no evidence that the term was not used before Paracelsus, it is possibly " a mere arbitrary invention, like so many others found in Paracelsus " (N.E.D. s.v.) .