Wiktionary

phrenology

English

edit
 
Phrenology bust.

Etymology

edit

From phreno- ‎ -logy.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

phrenology (countable and uncountable, plural phrenologies)

  1. (medicine, biology, historical) The pseudo-science which studies the relationships between a person's character and the morphology (structure) of the skull.
    Phrenology involves feeling the bumps in the skull to determine an individual's psychological attributes.
    • 1995 November 19, Richard Appel, “Mother Simpson”, in The Simpsons, Harry Shearer (actor):
      MR. BURNS: Who could forget such a monstrous visage? She has the sloping brow and cranial bumpage of the career criminal.
      MR. SMITHERS: Uh, sir, phrenology was dismissed as quackery 160 years ago.
    • 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 86:
      Phrenology was the practice of correlating bumps on a skull with mental powers and attributes of character.

Usage notes

edit

Not to be confused with phenology.

Synonyms

edit

Derived terms

edit

Translations

edit

See also

edit

Further reading

edit

Anagrams

edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=phrenology&oldid=82837007"