Dactylology

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dactylology \Dac`tyl*ol"o*gy\, n. [Gr. da`ktylos finger +
     -logy.]
     The art of communicating ideas by certain movements and
     positions of the fingers; a form of sign language, especially
     the manual alphabets used by the deaf and dumb.
     [1913 Webster +PJC]


  
     Note: There are two different manual alphabets, the one-hand
           alphabet (which was perfected by Abb['e] de l'Ep['e]e,
           who died in 1789), and the two-hand alphabet. The
           latter was probably based on the manual alphabet
           published by George Dalgarus of Aberdeen, in 1680. See
           Illustration in Appendix.
           [1913 Webster]