proxemicsn.
/prɒkˈsiːmɪks/, U.S. /prɑkˈsimɪks/ Sociology.
The study or interpretation of physical proximity between people in various situations; the ways in which people interact spatially, esp. in maintaining a certain amount of space between themselves and others.
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society > society and the community > study of society > [noun] > other branches
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futurology1946
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structural anthropology1950
squalorology1961
proxemics1963
future research1969
women's studies1969
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1963 E. T. Hall in Amer. Anthropologist 65 1003 Proxemics, the study of how man unconsciously structures microspace—the distance between men in the conduct of daily transactions, the organization of space in his houses and buildings, and ultimately the layout of his towns.
1974 Language Sci. Aug. 32/3 Ever since Edward Hall..made public the results of his research on man's use of space, the interrelated observations and theories of which he calls proxemics, [etc.].
1987 M. Esslin in D. Walder Lit. in Mod. World (1990) 129 The actor has at his disposal an array of sign systems..: use of the voice in modulating the text, facial expression, gesture (‘kinesics’), and grouping or movement in space (‘proxemics’).
2006 A. Davies Goodbye Lemon ii. 139 Hahva struggles to maintain the distance I've requested in deference to my mother's idea of proxemics.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1963