noun. The use of the fingers and hands to communicate and convey ideas, as in the manual alphabet used by hearing-impaired and speech-impaired people.

noun. The art of communicating ideas or conversing by the fingers; the language of the deaf and dumb. See deafmute.

noun. The art of communicating ideas by certain movements and positions of the fingers; -- a method of conversing practiced by the deaf and dumb.

noun. The use of the fingers and hands to communicate ideas, especially by the deaf.

"The most interesting thing I learned from this very exceptional woman (who is deaf since birth and has two hearing children), and spoke like you and I, was a special request she made, that cell phone manufacturers integrate “dactylology” or signwriting, the digital version of sign language which is widely available for computer keyboards."

sign language  

fingerspelling