chiromancy
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chiromancy
Explanation
Chiromancy, or palmistry, is the art of reading palms to tell someone’s future. If you are in doubt about your future prom date or business venture, let chiromancy be your guide. If you like astrology and tarot cards, you might be interested in chiromancy, which involves looking at a person’s palms to determine their destiny. Chiromancy is a form of fortune-telling, and chiromancers look closely at the different lines on your palm to make predictions about your career, love life, and happiness. This is a rare word for what is usually called palmistry or palm-reading these days.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Séances were a fad; so were hypnotism, chiromancy and telepathy.
From New York Times ● Dec. 29, 2016
By the 17 century, the great age of wars of religion, palmistry, and chiromancy, knowledge of and on the hand would become major sciences.
From Slate ● Nov. 15, 2012
Under necromancy," says Mr. Forbes, "are comprehended chiromancy, predictions, and responses by the sieve and the shear, and all other hellish arts of divination.
From The Mysteries of All Nations Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together With Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales by Grant, James, archaeologist
By the crime of magic, the author informs us, he means any improper communication between men and evil spirits, whether it be called theurgy, soothsaying, necromancy, chiromancy, incantation or witchcraft.
From Thaumaturgia by Oxonian, An
Sir T. Browne treats of chiromancy, or the art of telling fortunes by means of lines in the hands, in his "Vulgar Errors," lib. v. cap.
From Religio Medici, Hydriotaphia, and the Letter to a Friend by Browne, Thomas, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
