What does "palmistry" mean?

Telling fortunes from the lines on the palms of the hand.

What is a synonym for "palmistry"?

Common synonyms include: chiromancy, palm reading, astrology, augury, chirognomy, chirography.

Pronounced //ˈpɑːmɪstɹi//.

//ˈpɑːmɪstɹi// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Telling fortunes from the lines on the palms of the hand. uncountable, usually
"Chiromantie is a coniecturyng by beholdyng the lynes, or wryncles of the handes called commonly Palmistry."
2
telling fortunes by lines on the palm of the hand wordnet
3
A book on palmistry; a system of palmistry. countable, usually
"No living palmistries can spell The bird-runes on the stretched silk of her hand"
4
A dexterous use or trick of the hand. obsolete, rare, uncountable, usually
"1711, Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, The Spectator, Volume 2, No. 130, 30 July, 1711, London: J. and R. Tonson, 12th edition, 1739, p. 182, In the Height of his Good-humour, meeting a common Beggar upon the Road who was no Conjuror, as he went to relieve him he found his Pocket was pick’d: That being a Kind of Palmistry at which this Race of Vermin are very dextrous."

"She loves to study palmistry, and shows the others the meaning that lies beneath their hands."

From Middle English palmestrie. Equivalent to palm + -ist + -ry.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.