phrenology
English edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
- Rhymes: -ɒlədʒi
Noun edit
phrenology (countable and uncountable, plural phrenologies)
- (medicine, biology) The science or now discredited 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
the science or discredited pseudo-science of phrenology
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See also edit
Further reading edit
- phrenology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia