chironomy means the art of using effective hand gestures, especially (historical) in Greco-Roman contexts. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
chironomy is pronounced /kaɪˈɹɒnəmi/.
Why “chironomy” is a great word
CHIRONOMY — [Noun] The formal art of using codified hand gestures for communication, historically in Greco-Roman oratory and the baton-less direction of music, especially Gregorian chant. From Latin chīronomia, from Ancient Greek χειρονομία (kheironomía, "gesturing"), from χειρο- (kheiro-, "hand") + νόμος (nómos, "controller, manager"). First attested in English in 1569. Unlike "gesticulation" (which denotes broad, often involuntary expression) or "conducting" (which specifies modern musical direction, typically with a baton), chironomy is a studied, silent syntax for shaping sound and sense. It is the orator's sculpted sweep to frame an argument in the Athenian agora, the choirmaster's finger tracing the undulant line of a plainsong melody, and the precise angle of a wrist that commands a chorus to swell or subside—a belief that order can be sculpted from empty air.
Etymology
From French chironomie and directly from Latin chīronomia, from Ancient Greek χειρονομία (kheironomía, “gesturing, gesticulation”), from χειρονόμος (kheironómos, “mime, skilled gesturer”), from χειρο- (kheiro-, “hand-”) + νόμος (nómos, “controller, manager”), from νέμω (némō, “to control, to manage”).
noun
- The art of using effective hand gestures, especially (historical) in Greco-Roman contexts.
- The skill of conducting music with hand gestures.