gnome vs fay

gnome and fay both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
gnome	Yes	No	No	No
fay	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, fay is a hypernym of gnome; that is, fay is a word with a broader meaning than gnome:

gnome: a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure
fay: a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers

Other hypernyms of gnome include faerie, faery, fairy, sprite.

gnome (noun)	fay (noun)
a short pithy saying expressing a general truth	a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers
a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure