"the study of social distancing in a cultural context," 1963, from proximity + emic (also see -ics). Apparently coined by U.S. anthropologist Edward T. Hall.
Entries linking to proxemics
proximity n.
"nearness in place, time, or relation," late 15c., proxymyte [Caxton], from French proximité "nearness" (14c.), from Latin proximitatem (nominative proximitas) "nearness, vicinity," from proximus "nearest, next; most direct; adjoining," figuratively "latest, most recent; next, following; most faithful," superlative of prope "near" (see propinquity).
emic adj.
"of or pertaining to analysis of cultural phenomena from the inside," 1954, from phonemic.
-ics
in the names of sciences or disciplines (acoustics, aerobics, economics, etc.), a 16c. revival of the classical custom of using the neuter plural of adjectives with Greek -ikos "pertaining to" (see -ic) to mean "matters relevant to" and also as the titles of treatises about them. Subject matters that acquired their English names before c. 1500, however, tend to be singular in form (arithmetic, logic, magic, music, rhetoric). The grammatical number of words in -ics (mathematics is/mathematics are) is a confused question.