What does kinesthesia mean?
Kinesthesia is the body’s awareness of the position and movement of its parts. It allows a person to know, without looking, where a hand or foot is and how it is moving. This awareness depends on sensory information from muscles, tendons, and joints, together with information from the skin and balance organs. The term is especially common in medicine, psychology, physical education, dance, and movement research, where it can refer either to the underlying capacity or to a person’s trained awareness of bodily movement. Although “proprioception” describes the physiological process that supports bodily positioning, “kinesthesia” more often emphasizes the conscious experience of that information. The word is also associated with learning methods that combine verbal instruction with physical practice, since movement and sensation can help make a skill more memorable.
nounThe sense of the position and movement of one’s body parts, especially as perceived through muscles, tendons, and joints. It also refers to awareness of how one’s body is oriented and moving in space.
- The awareness of the position and movement of body parts, especially through sensory receptors in muscles, tendons, and joints.
- A general awareness of one’s body in relation to the surrounding environment, as developed in movement, dance, or physical activity.
"The dancer’s exceptional kinesthesia allowed her to adjust her balance instantly when the music changed."
"The patient retained kinesthesia even though the sensation of pain was completely absent."
"The workshop combined visual instruction with kinesthetic practice so participants could feel the correct movement."
The plural is rare; in general use, kinesthesia is treated as an uncountable noun.
"The study compared the kinesthesias of trained dancers with those of untrained participants."
Your sense of where your limbs are and how they move is called kinesthesia—the invisible guidance system that lets you touch your nose with your eyes closed.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does kinesthesia come from?
The word comes from Greek kinesis, meaning “movement,” and aisthesis, meaning “perception” or “sensation.” It entered English in the early 19th century in scientific discussions of movement and sensation. Its relatives include kinetics, kinesthetic, and kinesiology, all of which share the same Greek root for movement.
Related word forms
How kinesthesia is actually used
The term is formal and technical, occurring chiefly in medicine, psychology, education, dance, and movement studies. The spelling “kinaesthesia” is also widely used, especially in British English.
Easily confused with kinesthesia
Kinesthesia is the conscious awareness of body position and movement, while proprioception is the underlying physiological process that provides the body with that information.