kinesics

English
WOTD – 29 September 2023

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κῑ́νησῐς (kī́nēsis, “motion”, noun) + English -ics (suffix forming nouns denoting fields of knowledge or practice),[1] coined by the American anthropologist Ray L. Birdwhistell (1918–1994) in his work Introduction to Kinesics (1952):[2] see the quotation. Κῑ́νησῐς (Kī́nēsis) is derived from κῑνέω (kīnéō, “to set in motion, move”) (from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to be lying down; to settle”)) + -σῐς (-sis, suffix forming abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result).

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kɪˈniːsɪks/, /kaɪ-/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /kəˈnisɪks/
  • Audio (GA)(file)
  • Hyphenation: kin‧es‧ics

Noun

kinesics (uncountable) (linguistics)

  1. The study of non-verbal communication by means of gestures and/or other body movements. [from 1952]
    • 1952, Ray L. Birdwhistell, “Preface”, in Introduction to Kinesics: An Annotation System for Analysis of Body Motion and Gesture, Louisville, Ky.: University of Kentucky, →OCLC, page 2:
      Section I consists of a brief discussion of the general field of kinesics which, it is hoped, will be suggestive to others working in this area whether their central focus be linguistic, psychiatric, or general cultural. The field of kinesics is divided methodologically in a manner approximating the prevalent usage in linguistics.
  2. Such non-verbal communication.
    Synonym: body language

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

References
  1. Compare “kinesics, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “kinesics, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. Ray L. Birdwhistell (1952) “Section I: A Preliminary Review”, in Introduction to Kinesics: An Annotation System for Analysis of Body Motion and Gesture, Louisville, Ky.: University of Kentucky, →OCLC, page 3:
    The following represents an attempt to review certain methodological aspects of the study of body motion as related to the non-verbal aspects of inter-personal communication. The term kinesics has been chosen to cover the multilevel approach (physical, physiological, psychological, and cultural) to such phenomena.

Further reading

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