Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Chironomos

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

CHIRON'OMOS and CHIRON'OMON (χειρονόμος). Generally, any person who employs the art of gesticulation to express his meaning without the aid of language, as explained in the previous article; thence also, a pantomimic actor on the stage (Juv. Sat. vi. 63.); and one who performs any duty with regular, studied, or theatrical movements; whence the same term is applied by the satirists to the slave who carved up the dishes at great entertainments with a pompous flourish of his knife. Juv. Sat. v. 121. Compare Pet. Sat. 36. 6.