Gneiss (ns), n. [G.] (Geol.) A crystalline rock, consisting, like
granite, of quartz, feldspar, and mica, but having these materials,
especially the mica, arranged in planes, so that it breaks rather
easily into coarse slabs or flags. Hornblende sometimes takes the place
of the mica, and it is then called hornblendic or syenitic gneiss.
Similar varieties of related rocks are also called gneiss.
Gneis"sic (ns"sk), a. Relating to, or resembling, gneiss; consisting of
gneiss.
Gneis"soid (-soid), a. [Gneiss + -oid.] Resembling gneiss; having some
of the characteristics of gneiss; -- applied to rocks of an
intermediate character between granite and gneiss, or mica slate and
gneiss.
Gneis"sose` (?), a. Having the structure of gneiss.
Gnew (n), obs. imp. of Gnaw. Chaucer.
Gnide (nd), v. t. [AS. gndan.] To rub; to bruise; to break in pieces.
[Obs.]
This word is found in Tyrwhitt's Chaucer, but improperly. The woed,
though common in Old English, does not occur in Chaucer. T. R.
Lounsbury.
Gnof (nf), n. Churl; curmudgeon. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Gnome (?), n. [F. gnome, prob. fr. Gr. gnw`mon one that knows, a
guardian, i. e., of the treasures in the inner parts of the earth, or
fr. &?; intelligence, both fr. gnw^nai, gignw^skein, to know. See
Know.] 1. An imaginary being, supposed by the Rosicrucians to inhabit
the inner parts of the earth, and to be the guardian of mines,
quarries, etc.
2. A dwarf; a goblin; a person of small stature or misshapen features,
or of strange appearance.