physiognomy
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
physiognomy
- /fɪziˈɒnəmi/ UK
- /fɪziˈɒɡnəmi/ UK, obsolete
- /fɪziˈɑ(ɡ)nəmi/ Canada, US
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English phisonomie, from Anglo-Norman phisenomie, Middle French phisonomie et al., ultimately from Late Latin physiognomia, from Ancient Greek φυσιογνωμία (phusiognōmía, “physiology”), from φύσις (phúsis, “physique, appearance”) + γνώμη (gnṓmē, “means of knowing”). Middle English phisonomie would regularly develop into *physnomy /ˈfɪznəmi/ (forms of this type are common in Early Modern English, such as fisnomie in All's Well that Ends Well); the modern spelling and pronunciation are due to learned influence.
noun physiognomies · fisnomie · fisnomy · phisnomy · physnomie · physnomy
-
The art or pseudoscience of deducing the predominant temper and other characteristic qualities of the mind from the outward appearance, especially from the features of the face.
Known still less than Della Porta is the figure of Camillo Baldi, an early-seventeenth-century Bolognese physician and university professor who advanced the discussion from the study of physiognomy and skull sizes to the study of characteriology based on writing. I am still not sure what to make of
Similar: face reading
- The face or countenance, with respect to the temper of the mind; particular configuration, cast, or expression of countenance, as denoting character. Faith ſir a has an Engliſh maine, but his fiſnomie is more hotter in France then there.
- The art of telling fortunes by inspection of the features.
- The general appearance or aspect of a thing, without reference to its scientific characteristics. the physiognomy of a plant; of a meteor
Translations
Every language
noun art or pseudoscience of deducing the character or personality from the bodily appearance
| Español | fisiognomía, fisiognómica |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 面相學 /面相学 miànxiàngxué, 命相 mìngxiàng |
| Português | fisiognomia, fisiognomonia |
| Français | physiognomonie |
| Deutsch | Physiognomik |
| Ελληνικά | φυσιογνωμική fysiognomikí |
| Română | fiziognomonie |
| Русский | физионо́мика fizionómika, физиогно́мика fiziognómika |
| Tiếng Việt | nhân tướng học |
noun countenance
| Español | fisionomía, fisonomía |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | φυσιογνωμία fysiognomía |
| Русский | физионо́мия fizionómija |
Talk about this word "physiognomy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/physiognomy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. physiognomy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/physiognomy "physiognomy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/physiognomy.Cite this
@misc{physiognomy_2026,
title = {physiognomy},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/physiognomy},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
