Palmistries

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The art or practice of interpreting the lines on the palms of hands
2. A method of divination that involves analyzing the shape and markings of a person's palms
3. The study and exploration of hand shapes and lines to predict the future or reveal character traits

Etymology: "Palmistries" is the plural of "palmistry," which comes from Middle English "palmestrie," itself built from "palm," the inside of the hand, plus the suffixes "-ist" and "-ry." The "-ist" element marks a person who practises something, and "-ry" turns that into the name of the practice, so the word literally names the craft of the palm-reader. Each of these parts is an ordinary English building block, and the pairing is a transparent one. Plural forms like "palmistries" are used when people speak of distinct systems or traditions of hand-reading, or of several individual readings, rather than the art as a whole.

Synonyms: palm reading, chiromancy, palmistry