phrenology Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a now abandoned study of the shape of skull as indicative of the strengths of different faculties

Gr. , , the mind + -logy: cf. F. phrénologie.

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.
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. considered pseudo-science by all reputable medical personnel, but still believed by ✍ 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.