Arcane Lexicon · D&D 5e
Turn English or Common into quick Gnomish words made for the table. Paste the result back and you get your original line.
Translations are reversible: paste one back, set it as the “From” language, and translate to Common to get the original text.
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Gnomish is the language of gnomes. In D&D 5e it is a standard language, and it is written in the Dwarvish script. The rules give the name and the script and no word list, so there is no list to look up.
Other books and games have gnome languages of their own. This page covers the Gnomish of D&D 5e tables.
Type English or Common, and each word becomes a short invented one. The words are built from short syllables heavy on b, g, p and k, and many longer words end in -i.
The same word always gives the same result. That suits a gnome. A label that says “pull” can carry the same Gnomish word on every gadget in the workshop, and a player who learns it once keeps it.
The words are invented for the table. They come from no rulebook, and any table can adopt them. This site is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.
Each line below was run through this translator. Type your own line into the box above to get more.
The 5e rules give no Gnomish vocabulary, so these are made up for the table. Each was generated by the translator, and the same English word always gives the same Gnomish word.
Paste the Gnomish text into the source box, set “From Language” to Gnomish and “To Language” to Common, then press Translate. Your original English comes back. The swap button does the same in one click.
Each English word maps to one Gnomish word, which is why the trip works in both directions. The tool decodes only what it made. A gadget label from another website will stay a mystery here, since no shared dictionary exists. That makes a handy puzzle device: hand the party a card of Gnomish and let them find the tool.
Script. Gnomish is written in the Dwarvish script, the same runes dwarves use. A dwarf could read the letters on a gnome’s door and still not know the words, which makes a small mystery for a puzzle. This translator writes its words in ordinary letters and draws no runes. For the sister language, see the Dwarvish translator.
Speakers. Gnomes. At your table you can add whoever fits: a tinker’s apprentice, a shop clerk, the neighbor with the loud experiments. These are ideas for your game, not rules.
Put your Gnomish note on a handout
Gnomes speak Gnomish, a standard language in 5e. The rules give it no word list, so this translator uses invented words made for the table. A line you translate today comes out the same next month, and you can paste it back to recover the original.
In D&D 5e, Gnomish is written in the Dwarvish script, the same runes as Dwarvish. This translator shows its words in ordinary letters, so you can copy them into a note and hand-copy them in runes if your table likes a runic look.
Type your line into the source box, choose Gnomish as the “To Language” and press Translate. Copy the result onto a note or prop. Every word maps to one Gnomish word, so pasting the line back with Gnomish as the “From Language” returns your original English.