Meaning

noun a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure

noun a short pithy saying expressing a general truth

originEtymology tree ▲ English GNU Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Germanic *ne Proto-West Germanic *ne Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- Proto-Indo-European *-u Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu Proto-Indo-European *-osinflu. Proto-Germanic *aiwaz Proto-West Germanic *aiw univ. Proto-West Germanic *naiw Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *wékʷtisder.? Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0