Onychomancy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A technique for foretelling future events through examining the attributes of nails
2. The practice of predicting future outcomes by interpreting characteristics of fingernails or toenails
3. A form of divination that uses the appearance and condition of nails to foresee events

Etymology: Divination has a long list of names built on Greek roots, and "onychomancy" is one of the more literal ones. Its first half, "onycho-", comes from the ancient Greek "onyx", which meant both the gemstone and a fingernail or claw, so the practice is named for the nail itself. The second half, "-mancy", comes from Greek "manteia", meaning prophecy or divination, the same element found in "necromancy" and "geomancy". The word is a plain compound, built in English from these two Greek elements rather than inherited or borrowed as a finished term. Its meaning follows directly from the parts: a reader of nails, much as a palmist reads the lines of a hand. Because the word is a modern formation from classical pieces, the practice it names is far older than the label, and the term tells us only how English speakers chose to describe it.