Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Goblin |
GoblinNoun1. (folklore) a small grotesque supernatural creature that makes trouble for human beings. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "goblin" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1596. (references) |
Etymology: Goblin \Gob"lin\, noun. [from Old English expression gobelin, French gobelin, Late Latin expression gobelinus, from the Greek expression knave, mischievous goblin; or compare to German kobold, English kobold, cobalt, Armor. gobilin an ignis fatuus, goblin.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Goblin A familiar demon. According to popular belief goblins dwelt in private houses and chinks of trees. As a specimen of forced etymology, it may be mentioned that Elf and Goblin have been derived from Guelph and Ghibelline. (French, gobelin, a lubber-fiend; Armoric gobylin; German kobold, the demon of mines; Greek, kobalos; Russian, colfy; Welsh coblyn, a "knocker;" whence the woodpecker is called in Welsh "coblyn y coed. ") (See Fairy.). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A goblin is
Christina Rossetti, in the poem "Goblin Market", used goblins as symbols of earthly desires that tantalize and nearly destroy a girl who falls under their spell.
- "An evil or mischievous spirit; a playful or malicious elf; a frightful phantom; gnome." (source)
Author George MacDonald, in The Princess and the Goblin, portrayed them as malevolent, subterranean creatures. The book is said to have been a childhood favorite of J. R. R. Tolkien, who populated his Middle-earth with goblins but later preferred to call them orcs in order to distance them from fairy tale characters.
Goblins also figure prominently in the Jim Henson film Labyrinth, in which a powerful sorceror (Jareth the Goblin King, portrayed by David Bowie) commands a legion of foul, diminutive, largely incompetent creatures. The goblins initially do the bidding of a young girl (played by Jennifer Connelly), who must ultimately overcome her fear of them and resist seduction by their king.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Goblin."
Synonyms: GoblinSynonyms: hob (n), hobgoblin (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Demon | Ghost, revenant, specter, apparition, spirit, shade, shadow, vision; hobglobin, goblin, orc; wraith, spook, boggart, banshee, loup-garou, lemures; evil eye. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Goblin |
| English words defined with "goblin": Barghest, Bogle ♦ Fairy of the mine ♦ Goblinize ♦ Ouphe. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "goblin": Bucca ♦ Dobby's Walk, Duende ♦ Goblin Cave, Grim's Dyke ♦ Lutin ♦ Nain Rouge, Nursery Tales. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "goblin": Goblinize. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Did your goblin come back (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; writing credit: Ethan Coen) Nilbog! It's goblin spelled backwards (Troll 2; writing credit: Claudio Fragasso) Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen, for my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great (Labyrinth; writing credit: Dennis Lee; Jim Henson) Don't do it, Goblin! (Spider-Man; writing credit: Stan Lee; Steve Ditko) Through dangers untold, and heartships unnumbered, I fought my way here to the castle, beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child that you have stolen (Labyrinth; writing credit: Terry Jones.) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Goblin (1993) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Goblin Recreation Site. Credit: Unknown. |  | Minita [i.e. Ninita] and Goblin. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Goblin. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Goblin Tree" by Lisa Christine Tam Commentary: "A crazy tree in Mont-Tremlant Park (Quebec, Canada)." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | There he was, seated upon the block by his door, immovable as a goblin of ice. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Goblin" is generally used as a noun (proper) -- approximately 74.29% of the time. "Goblin" is used about 245 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (proper) | 74.29% | 182 | 22,870 |
| Noun (singular) | 22.45% | 55 | 45,713 |
| Noun (common) | 3.27% | 8 | 124,375 |
| Total | 100.00% | 245 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "goblin": goblin-held, goblin-like. | |
Ending with "goblin": fairy-and-goblin, rob-goblin, three-goblin. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "goblin"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | aardmannetjie (brownie, gnome), aardgees (brownie, gnome). (various references) | |
Albanian | Shpirt I Keq (evil spirit, gremlin, incubus). (various references) | |
Arabic | غول (alcohol, bogey, ghoul, hobgoblin, ogre), عفريت (demon, evil genius, evil spirit, genius, gnome, imp, pixy, puck, rascal, rogue, tinker), جن (demons, fairy, go crazy, go haywire, go mad, jinn, lose one's marbles, mad, take leave of one's senses). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | Зъл Дух. (various references) | |
Chinese | 小妖精 , 妖 (bewitching, devil, enchanting, monster, phantom, witch). (various references) | |
Czech | Skřítek (elf, elves, gnome, gremlin, hobgoblin, imp, manikin, pixie, pixy, pygmy, sprite), Šotek. (various references) | |
Dutch | gnoom (brownie, gnome), aardmannetje (brownie, gnome, imp). (various references) | |
Esperanto | gnomo (brownie, gnome), koboldo (imp). (various references) | |
Faeroese | vættur (imp), trøll (imp). (various references) | |
Farsi | مثل دیووجن , جنی (Hobgoblin, Imp, Jinn(Ni)), جن (Bogey, Deuce, Elf, Spook, Sprite, Urchin), دیو (Bogey, Gnome, Spook). (various references) | |
Finnish | tonttu (brownie, imp), peikko (bugbear, troll), haltija (fairy, genius, gnome, guardian spirit, holder, occupant, owner, possessor). (various references) | |
French | Lutin. (various references) | |
Frisian | ierdmantsje (brownie, gnome). (various references) | |
German | Kobold (bogey, elf, gnome, gremlin, hobgoblin, imp, leprechaun, pixie, pixy, puck, sprite). (various references) | |
Greek | Δαιμόνιο, ίαλικάντζαροσ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | דון. (various references) | |
Hungarian | manó (boggle, bogy, brownie, elf, elfin, elves, flibbertigibbet, gnome, hobgoblin, imp, leprechaun, pigmy, pixie, pixy, pygmy, sprite, troll), gonosz szellem (afreet, afrit, boggle, bogle, cacodaemon, cacodemon, demon, evil spirit, gremlin), Kobold (boggard, boggle, bogle, bogy, flibbertigibbet, hobgoblin, pixie, pixy, puck, sprite). (various references) | |
Indonesian | hantu (apparition, fiend, genie, ghost, imp). (various references) | |
Italian | Gnomo (dwarf, elf, gnome), Spirito Maligno (cacodemon, daemon, demon, fiend), Folletto (bogy, elf, elfin, gremlin, hobgoblin, imp, pixie, pixy, sprite). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 魔物 (apparition), お化け (apparition, ghost, monster), 化物 (apparition, ghost, monster, phantom, spectre), 化生 (growth, metamorphosis), 化け物 (apparition, monster), 化け物 (apparition, ghost, monster, phantom, spectre), 御化け (apparition, ghost, monster), 変化 (alteration, apparition, bugbear, change, conjugation, declension, diversity, ghost, inflection, metamorphosis, mutation, transfiguration, transformation, transition, variation, variety), ゴシック建築 (Gobelins, goblet, god, Goddard, godfather, Godzilla, gospel, gospel song, gossip, gossip maker, gothic, Gothic architecture, State Bank, State Plan, thud), 妖怪 (apparition, demon, ghost, monster, phantom, spectre). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | おばけ (apparition, ghost, monster), まもの (apparition), ばけもの (apparition, ghost, monster, phantom, spectre), ゴブリン , ようかい (apparition, demon, fusing, ghost, melting, monster, phantom, solution, spectre), けしょう (makeup, make-up), へんげ (apparition, bugbear, ghost). (various references) | |
Manx | glashtin (hulking boy, sprite). (various references) | |
Papiamen | kabouter (brownie, gnome). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | oblingay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | gnomo (dwarf, elf, gnome, hop-o'-my-thumb, puck), trasgo (hobgoblin, sprite), duende maléfico. (various references) | |
Romanian | Zburdalnicã, Spiriduş (brownie, elf, elfin, elves, familiar, hobgoblin, spook, sprite), Persoanã Vioaie (mercurial), Elf (elf, fairy, spirit, sprite), Drãcuşor (hobgoblin, imp, mischief). (various references) | |
Russian | гном (dwarf, gnome, leprechaun), Домовой. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zao duh (evil spirit, ghoul), zao (bad, evil, ill, ill disposed, malefic, maleficent, malevolent, malicious, mean, nefarious, ornery, wicked). (various references) | |
Spanish | duende (brownie, daemon, duende, elf, hob, hobgoblin, leprechaun, poltergeist, puck, sprite). (various references) | |
Swedish | troll (charm, elf, hobgoblin, ogre, troll). (various references) | |
Thai | ปีศาจ (evil, fiend). (various references) | |
Turkish | Gulyabani (bogey, bogie, bogy, ghoul, hob), Cin (clever person, demon, elf, Geneva, genie, gin, gnome, gremlin, hob, hobgoblin, Hollands, jinnee, puck, sprite, white satin), Cüce Cin (leprechaun). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | Домовик. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | yêu tinh (elfin, ogre, poltergeist, pooka, sprite). (various references) | |
Welsh | coblyn (imp, sprite). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| German | 100 BCE-Modern | kobold. (various references) |
| Middle Dutch | 1100-1500 | drol. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "goblin": goblins. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "goblin": hobgoblin. (additional references) | |
Words containing "goblin": hobgoblins. (additional references) | |
| |
"Goblin" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Boblyn, Gablik, Gitlin, gobbin, gobblin, gobin, Gobinda, goblen, gobling, goblit, goblo, goboi, gobulin, gogli, goklin, golen, goslin, Goslyn, Guibilini, hoblin, Noblin, Oubilin, Roblin, Ugolin, Ugolino. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "goblin" (pronounced gÄ"bli'n) |
| 3 | -l i' n | Caplin, Carlin, Catlin, Codlin, Colin, Franklin, mandolin, maudlin, Merlin, myelin, Paulin, poplin. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: globin. | |
| Words within the letters "b-g-i-l-n-o" | |
-1 letter: bingo, boing, lingo. | |
-2 letters: blin, boil, bong, glib, glob, ling, lino, lion, loin, long, noil. | |
-3 letters: big, bin, bio, bog, gib, gin, gob, ion, lib, lin, lob, log, nib, nil, nob, nog, obi, oil. | |
-4 letters: bi, bo, go, in, li, lo, no, on. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-g-i-l-n-o" | |
+1 letter: biltong, blowing, boiling, bolling, bolting, bowling, globing, globins, goblins, ignoble, ignobly, lobbing. | |
+2 letters: biltongs, bloating, blobbing, blocking, blooding, blooming, blooping, blotting, blousing, bobbling, bodingly, boggling, boodling, boringly, bottling, boweling, bowingly, bowlings, broiling, cobbling, doubling, elbowing, globulin, gobbling, hobbling, kingbolt, laboring, lobbying, nobbling, obliging, ringbolt, wobbling. | |
+3 letters: absolving, balloting, befooling, befouling, beholding, behowling, bellowing, belonging, billabong, billowing, blazoning, bloodings, bloodying, blotching, bollixing, bolloxing, bottlings, bowelling, corbeling, englobing, ennobling, gamboling, globulins, hobgoblin, ignorable, kingbolts, labouring, myoglobin, obelising, obelizing, obliquing, reboiling, ringbolts, symboling, troubling, unbolting, upboiling. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
