phrenology

English
Phrenology bust.

Etymology

From phreno- +‎ -logy.

Pronunciation
  • Rhymes: -ɒlədʒi

Noun

phrenology (countable and uncountable, plural phrenologies)

  1. (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

Not to be confused with phenology.

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