fingerspelling

English

Etymology

From finger +‎ spelling.

Noun

fingerspelling (countable and uncountable, plural fingerspellings)

1. The practice of representing the letters of an alphabet using just the hands to spell out words.
2. Any system for representing the letters of an alphabet using just the hands; a manual alphabet that is a representation of a written alphabet.
3. A representation of the spelling of a word using such a system.

Alternative forms

• FS (initialism)

Verb

fingerspelling

1. present participle and gerund of fingerspell

Alternative forms

• FS (initialism)

Synonyms

• dactylology

Translations

the practice of using the hands to spell out words

• Georgian: თითებით ლაპარაკი (titebit laṗaraḳi)
• Portuguese: dactilologia f (Portugal), datilologia f (Brazil, Portugal)

any system for representing letters using the hands

• Georgian: ხელის ანბანი (xelis anbani)
• Hungarian: ujjábécé (hu), jelnyelvi ábécé
• Portuguese: dactilologia f (Portugal), datilologia f (Brazil, Portugal), alfabeto manual m
• Swedish: handalfabet n

a representation of a spelling using the hands