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)

1. 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

• chiromancer
• chiromantic
• chiromantical

References

• “chiromancy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.