Gnomidae

Pronunciation: no.mi.ˈdae̯

Etymology: from Latin gnomus* + idae, a translingual suffix commonly used in taxonomy to denote a subclass of family.

*The word gnomus is not attested classically. It was coined in the 16th century by Paracelsus, possibly from a compound of Ancient Greek γῆ (gê, “earth”) and νομός (nomós, “dwelling”).

The Gnomidae group includes many magions that are familiar from human folklore, such as goblins, gnomes, trolls and ogres. These creatures differ quite a bit from each other, but are similar in their basic physiognomy (bipedal), and are usually highly intelligent. Humans would generally consider them humanoid, but magions find this term somewhat offensive and very human-centric. Therefore, magiontology opted for ‘gnomidae’, which derives from the Latin word ‘gnomus’.

The term ‘gnomus’ is used in alchemy to mark the earth element within the four classic elements (earth, water, fire and air), and probably derives from ‘genomos’ that translates as “earth-dweller”. In the 16th century the physician, philosopher, theologian, and alchemist Paracelsus coined the term to describe a type of small chthonic beings that represented the earth element, alongside three beings that represented water, fire and air. While this element-based categorization does not fit with how magions view themselves, they did appreciate the attempt and many theorize that Paracelsus encountered some magions that inspired his theories. Since most of the magions in this group are land-dwellers, and many have strong connection to the earth, the term gnomidae was accepted.

It should be noted that the term ‘gnomus’ is used for magions of the gnome genus. Of the gnomidae, gnomes are the closest to the earth both in habitat and in appearance, and have adopted the term for themselves long ago. However, while the linguistic origin of ‘gnomus’ and ‘gnomidae’ is the same, it does not point to any type of hierarchal order of the genus within the gnomidae group.