Phrenology

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Phrenology \Phre*nol"o*gy\, n. [Gr. frh`n, freno`s, the mind +
     -logy: cf. F. phr['e]nologie.]
     1. 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.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. In popular usage, the obsolete physiological hypothesis of
        Gall, that the mental faculties, and traits of character,
        are shown on the surface of the head or skull; craniology.
        it is considered a pseudo-science by all reputable medical
        personnel, but is still believed by some people.
  
     Syn: craniognomy.
          [1913 Webster + PJC]
  
     Note: Gall marked out on his model of the head the places of
           twenty-six organs, as round inclosures with vacant
           interspaces. Spurzheim and Combe divided the whole
           scalp into oblong and conterminous patches. --Encyc.
           Brit.
           [1913 Webster]
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  phrenology
       n : a now abandoned study of the shape of skull as indicative of
           the strengths of different faculties

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  PHRENOLOGY, n.  The science of picking the pocket through the scalp. 
  It consists in locating and exploiting the organ that one is a dupe
  with.