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1. (n.) phrenology
a system of character analysis based upon the belief that certain faculties and personality traits are indicated by the configurations of the skull.
Etymology: (1815; < Gk
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| Definition of 'phrenology' |
Princeton's WordNet |
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1. (noun) phrenology
a now abandoned study of the shape of skull as indicative of the strengths of different faculties
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| Definition of 'phrenology' |
Webster Dictionary |
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1. (noun) phrenology
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
2. (noun) phrenology
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
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| Definitions of 'phrenology' |
The Nuttall Encyclopedia |
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1. phrenology
claims to be a science in which the relation of the functions of mind to the material of the brain substance is observed. It asserts that just as speech, taste, touch, &c., have their centres in certain convolutions of the brain, so have benevolence, firmness, conscientiousness, &c., and that by studying the configuration of the brain, as indicated by that of the skull, a man's character may be approximately discovered. As a science it is usually discredited, and held to be unsupported by physiology, anatomy, and pathology. It is held as strongly militating against its claims that it takes no account of the convolutions of the brain that lie on the base of the skull. Its originators were Gall, Spurzheim, and Andrew and George Combe.
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| Definition of 'phrenology' |
U.S. National Library of Medicine |
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1. phrenology
The study of the conformation of the skull as indicative of mental faculties and traits of character, especially according to the hypothesis of F. J. Gall (1758-1828). (Webster 3d ed)
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Definitions of phrenology 
