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kinesics.

The study of non-verbal communication by means of gestures and/or other body movements.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/kɪˈniːsɪks/Received-Pronunciation/kaɪ-/Received-Pronunciation/kəˈnisɪks/General-American
  1. The study of non-verbal communication by means of gestures and/or other body movements.

    uncountable
  2. Such non-verbal communication.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κῑ́νησῐς (kī́nēsĭs, “motion”, noun) + English -ics (suffix forming nouns denoting fields of knowledge or practice), coined by the American anthropologist Ray L. Birdwhistell (1918–1994) in his work Introduction to Kinesics (1952) (see the quotation). Κῑ́νησῐς (Kī́nēsĭs) is derived from κῑνέω (kīnéō, “to set in motion, move”) (from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to be lying down; to settle”)) + -σῐς (-sĭs, suffix forming abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result). Compare kinesia and kinesic.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.