(γνώσις, from γνωρίζω, I know), a name given by writers of the cabalistic school to a certain class of imaginary beings supposed to inhabit the inner parts of the earth, and to be the guardians of mines, quarries, &c. The reader need hardly be reminded of the admirable use that Pope has made of the gnomes and sylphs in the Rape of the Lock. Darwin, also, in his Botanic Garden, has employed similar machinery.