Nearby Words

Phrenology

[fri-nol-uh-jee, fre-] Example Sentences Origin

phre·nol·o·gy

[fri-nol-uh-jee, fre-]
noun
a psychological theory or analytical method based on the belief that certain mental faculties and character traits are indicated by the configurations of the skull.

Origin:
1795–1805, Americanism; phreno- + -logy

phren·o·log·ic [fren-l-oj-ik] , phren·o·log·i·cal, adjective
phren·o·log·i·cal·ly, adverb
phre·nol·o·gist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Phrenology

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Phrenology is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
Example Sentences
  • Though absurdly unscientific even for its time, phrenology was remarkably prescient-up to a point.
  • The much-maligned theory of phrenology gets a tip of the hat from modern neuroscience.
Collins
World English Dictionary
phrenology (frɪˈnɒlədʒɪ)
 
n
(formerly) the branch of science concerned with localization of function in the human brain, esp determination of the strength of the faculties by the shape and size of the skull overlying the parts of the brain thought to be responsible for them
 
phrenological
 
adj
 
phre'nologist
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

phrenology
1815, from Gk., lit. "mental science," from phren (gen. phrenos) "mind" + -logy "study of." Applied to the theory of mental faculties originated by Gall and Spurzheim that led to the 1840s mania for reading personality clues in the shape of one's skull and the "bumps" of the head.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

phrenology phre·nol·o·gy (frĭ-nŏl'ə-jē)
n.
The study of the shape and protuberances of the skull, based on the now discredited belief that they reveal character and mental capacity.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
phrenology   (frĭ-nŏl'ə-jē)  Pronunciation Key 
The study of the shape of the skull as a means of determining character and intelligence. Phrenology has been disproven as a science.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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