- goblin
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/gob"lin/, n.a grotesque sprite or elf that is mischievous or malicious toward people.Syn. GOBLIN, GNOME, GREMLIN refer to supernatural beings thought to be malevolent to people. GOBLINS are demons of any size, usually in human or animal form, that are supposed to assail, afflict, and even torture human beings: "Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, ..." (Shak. Hamlet I, iv). GNOMES are small beings, like ugly little old men, who live in the earth, guarding mines, treasures, etc. They are mysteriously malevolent and terrify human beings by causing dreadful mishaps to occur. GREMLINS are thought to disrupt machinery and are active in modern folklore.
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▪ folklorein Western folklore, a wandering sprite that is usually mischievous but often malicious. Goblins supposedly live in grottoes but attach themselves to households, where they are believed to bang upon pots and pans, snatch nightclothes off the bodies of sleeping people, move furniture at night, and flee after rapping on walls and doors. They are thought to help parents discipline children by rewarding the latter with presents when they are good and punishing them when they are disobedient. The word goblin derives from the Greek kobalos (“rogue”).* * *
Universalium. 2010.
