The corpus record

χειρονομ-έω

cheironomeo

gesticulate

Generated live from the audited corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Symposium 1 · 1.05/10k
Histories 2 · 0.11/10k
Laws 1 · 0.1/10k

What it meant — LSJ

gesticulate, flourishing

gesticulate with the hands, X. Smp. 2.19, D.C. 36.30, τοῖσι σκέλεσι ἐχειρονόμησε, of one standing on his head, Hdt. 6.129; chironomunta [χειρονομοῦντα] volanti cultello, flourishing the knife, of an expert carver, Juv. 5.121.

II practise shadow-boxing

practise shadow-boxing, Thrasym. Fr. 4, Pl. Lg. 830c, Plu. QConv. 2.747b.

In the wild

ἐχειρονόμησε · echeironomēse Herodotus, Histories 6.129.3 (DIORISIS sentence 6949)
χειρονομήσαντα · cheironomēsanta Herodotus, Histories 6.129.4 (DIORISIS sentence 6951)
χειρονομεῖν · cheironomein Plato, Laws 830
ἐχειρονόμουν · echeironomoun Xenophon, Symposium 2.19 (DIORISIS sentence 124)

Where it came from

No etymology authority pointer is recorded for this lemma yet — an honest gap, not an omission. The etymological dictionaries (Beekes, Chantraine, Frisk) are matched incrementally.

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