Word of the Day 1.9.09
physiognomy
phys·i·og·no·my (f
z
-
g
n
-m, -n-m)
n. pl. phys·i·og·no·mies
1.
a. The art of judging human character from facial features.
b. Divination based on facial features.
2.
a. Facial features, especially when regarded as revealing character.
b. Aspect and character of an inanimate or abstract entity: the physiognomy of New England.
[Middle English phisonomie, from Old French phisionomie, from Late Latin physiogn
mia, from Greek phusiognmi
, variant of phusiognmoni : phusio-, physio- + gnmn, gnmon-, interpreter; see gn- in Indo-European roots.]
physi·og·nomic (-g-nmk, --nmk), physi·og·nomi·cal (--kl) adj.
physi·og·nomi·cal·ly adv.
physi·ogno·mist n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
| Noun | 1. | physiognomy – the human face (`kisser’ and `smiler’ and `mug’ are informal terms for `face’ and `phiz’ is British)
human head – the head of a human being
face, human face – the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear; “he washed his face”; “I wish I had seen the look on his face when he got the news”
pudding face, pudding-face – a large fat human face
colloquialism – a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech
Britain, Great Britain, U.K., UK, United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; `Great Britain’ is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom
|
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
