Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The study of the shape and protuberances of the skull, based on the now discredited belief that they reveal character and mental capacity.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The theory that the mental powers of the individual consist of independent faculties, each of which has its seat in a definite brain-region, whose size is commensurate with the power of manifesting this particular faculty.
- noun Comparative psychology; the study of the mind, intellect, or intelligence of man and the lower animals.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The science of the special functions of the several parts of the brain, or of the supposed connection between the various faculties of the mind and particular organs in the brain.
- noun In popular usage, the physiological hypothesis of Gall, that the mental faculties, and traits of character, are shown on the surface of the head or skull; craniology.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun medicine, biology The
science , now generallydiscredited , which studies the relationships between a person'scharacter and themorphology (structure) of theskull .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a now abandoned study of the shape of skull as indicative of the strengths of different faculties
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Gallian system, and who are aware that my discoveries have thoroughly revolutionized as well as enlarged cerebral science, rendering the old term phrenology inadequate to express its present status.
Buchanan's Journal of Man, February 1887 Volume 1, Number 1 1856
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I spoke of phrenology, he said, not with the object of criticising a system which has its good side, in so far as it tends to complete the series of physiological observations that aim at increasing our knowledge of man; I used the word phrenology because the only fatality that we believe in nowadays is that created by our own instincts.
Mauprat George Sand 1840
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A strong background in phrenology would aid the mission, he argued, because “you will not have to wait to learn their [the Chinese people’s] peculiarities.”
The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture: 1776-1876 2005
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Horace Mann called phrenology “the greatest discovery of the age.”
MANUFACTURING DEPRESSION Gary Greenberg 2010
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For example, Dr. Mortimer, a man Holmes and Watson befriend and refer to as a fellow man of science, is an expert in phrenology.
Archive 2007-07-01 2007
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For example, Dr. Mortimer, a man Holmes and Watson befriend and refer to as a fellow man of science, is an expert in phrenology.
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In the early nineteenth century, Gall developed the notion of phrenology skull configuration and bumps reflecting underlying brain structure and made the first organized connection between brain and behavior.
The Neuropsychiatric Guide to Modern Everyday Psychiatry Michael Alan Taylor 1993
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He was likewise taken to Mr. Deville, a noted professor of the art called phrenology, who felt his head, carefully measuring all its bumps, and, having learnt Clare's name, informed him that he possessed all the swellings necessary to make verses.
The Life of John Clare Martin, Frederick, 1830-1883 1865
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He was likewise taken to Mr. Deville, a noted professor of the art called phrenology, who felt his head, carefully measuring all its bumps, and, having learnt Clare's name, informed him that he possessed all the swellings necessary to make verses.
The Life of John Clare Frederick Martin 1856
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[1] The summary of this distinguished lecturer's objections to phrenology is to be found in the Appendix to vol i. of "Lectures on Metaphysics," p. 404, et seq.
A Strange Story — Volume 05 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838
trivet commented on the word phrenology
The (now discredited) study of the shape of the skull as a means of determining character and intelligence.
March 6, 2007
roseandivy commented on the word phrenology
I kept thinking this study was called phenology. Better mark it to avoid future embarrassment. ^^;;
April 9, 2008