goblin
/ˈɡɒblɪn
/noun
A mischievous, ugly, dwarf-like creature of folklore.There is a group of elves or goblins or aliens or something who show up as I'm drifting off....
- Home to a wacky wizard, it's a gothic mansion packed to the rafters with mischievous goblins and no-good ghosts.
- The other angle I read into this is that of the child-abduction by goblins and fairies in the tales of yore and of today.
Synonyms
hobgoblin, gnome, dwarf, troll, imp, elf, sprite, brownie, fairy, pixie;
Scottish kelpie;
Irish leprechaun, pooka
archaic bugbear, hob
Origin
Middle English: from Old French gobelin, possibly related to German Kobold (see kobold) or to Greek kobalos 'mischievous goblin'. In medieval Latin Gobelinus occurs as the name of a mischievous spirit, said to haunt Évreux in northern France in the 12th century.
This is from Old French gobelin from Gobelinus, the name of a mischievous spirit said to haunt the region of Évreux in northern France in the 12th century. The term may be related to German Kobold, the name of a German spirit that haunted houses or lived underground in caves and mines, although another possible source is Greek kobalos ‘goblin’. See also cobalt, gremlin, hobby