palm +
(Greek palame > Latin palma: palm of the hand)
2. Having lobed or partially webbed separated toes.
2. A linear unit based on the length or width of the human hand (from 3 to 4 inches (7½–10 centimeters), based on the breadth of the hand.
3. A linear measure of from 7 to 10 inches (17½–25 centimeters), based on the length of the hand. 4. The corresponding part of the forefoot of an animal.
5. A part of a glove covering this part of the hand.
6. Sailmaker's palm: A stiff rawhide or metal shield worn over this part of the hand by sailmakers to serve as a thimble.
7. The flat, expanded part of the horn or antler of a deer.
8. A flat, widened part at the end of an armlike projection.
9. The blade of an oar.
10. The inner face of an anchor fluke.
11. To grease someone's palm, to give money to; especially, as a bribe.
12. To conceal in the palm, as in cheating at cards or dice or in juggling.
13. To pick up stealthily (secretly, clandestinely, or surreptitiously).
14. To impose (something) fraudulently; such as, to palm stolen jewels on someone.
15. To palm off, to dispose of by deception, trickery, or fraud; to substitute (something) with intent to deceive: "Someone had palmed off a forgery on the couple when they bought the house."
2. The flexor or anterior surface of the hand, exclusive of the thumb and fingers.
3. The opposite of the dorsum (side opposite the palm) of the hand.
2. A reference to the hand.
2. Someone who practices palmistry.
2. The art or practice of telling fortunes and interpreting character from the lines and configurations of the palm of a person's hand.
Methods of palmistry
Palmistry is the practice of evaluating a person's character or future life by "reading" the palm of that person's hand. Various "lines" ("heart line", "life line", etc.) and "mounts" (or bumps, chirognomy), purportedly suggest interpretations by their relative sizes, qualities, and intersections.
In some traditions, readers also examine characteristics of the fingers, fingernails, fingerprints, and palmar skin patterns (dermatoglyphics), skin texture and color, shape of the palm, and flexibility of the hand.
A palmist usually begins by reading the person's "dominant hand" or the hand he or she writes with or uses the most. In some traditions of palmistry, the other hand is believed to carry past-life or karmic information, as well as hereditary traits.
The basic framework for "classical" palmistry (the most widely taught and practiced tradition) is rooted in Greek mythology.
Each area of the palm and fingers is related to a Greek god or goddess, and the features of that area indicate the nature of the corresponding aspect of the subject. For example, the ring finger is associated with the Greek god Apollo; characteristics of the ring finger were tied to the subject's dealings with art, music, aesthetics, fame, and harmony.
Skeptics often include palmists on lists of alleged psychics who practice a technique called cold reading
Cold reading is cited as the practice that allows readers of all kinds, including palmists, to appear psychic.
Although fortune telling is much less common today in mainstream palmistry as it was in the past, skeptics almost always associate palmistry with "fortune telling" rather than reading character.
Palmprints have the same individual specificity as fingerprints and are often used for supplemental identification of newborns.
Related "hand" units: cheiro-, chiro-; Dextro and Sinsitro History; Hands as Objects of Art; Hands: Mechanical Marvels; manu-.
