chiromancy
English
Alternative forms
- cheiromancy
- chiromancie, chyromancia, chyromancie, chyromancy (all obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle French chiromancie, from Latin chīromantīa, from Ancient Greek χειρομαντεία (kheiromanteía), from χειρο- (kheiro-, “hand-”) + μαντεία (manteía, “divination, fortune-telling”). Equivalent to chiro- + -mancy.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkaɪ.ɹəʊ.mæn.si/, /ˈkaɪ.ɹə.mæn.si/
Noun
chiromancy (usually uncountable, plural chiromancies)
- Synonym of palmistry: fortune-telling performed by reading another's hand.
- 1620, J. Melton Astrologaster, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
- If they fore-tell things that shall happen by signes that they see in lines of a mans hand; then it is called Chyromancie...
- 1995, C. Walker Encyc, Secret Knowledge:
- Modern palmistry differs from the ancient methods in concentrating on what is called chirognomy at the expense of chiromancy.
Related terms
References
- “chiromancy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
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