(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
Derived forms
phrenological (ˌfrɛnəˈlɒdʒɪkəl) or phrenologic (ˌfrɛnəˈlɒdʒɪk)
adjective
phrenologist (phreˈnologist)
noun
phrenology in American English
(frɪˈnɑlədʒi)
US
noun
a system, popular esp. in the 19th cent., based on the assumption that an analysis of character can be made by a study of the shape and protuberances of the skull