goblin

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small, grotesque, supernatural, and folkloric creature that makes trouble for human beings

   The goblin in the story hid in the woods, waiting for unsuspecting travelers.

From Middle English gobelyn, from Old Northern French gobelin (compare Norman goubelin, Walloon gobelin), possibly a blend of Old Dutch *kobeholdo (“goblin”) (compare Dutch kabouter, German Kobold) and Late Latin cobalus (“mountain sprite”), from Ancient Greek κόβαλος (kóbalos, “rogue, knave; goblin”). Displaced native Old English pūca from Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), whence English puck.

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