graphology

From French graphologie, coined by Jean-Hippolyte Michon from Ancient Greek γραφή (graphḗ, “writing”) + French -logie (“study of”).

graphology (usually uncountable, plural graphologies)

1. (uncountable) The study of handwriting, especially as a means of analyzing a person's character.
   • 1999, Lee Naftali, Joel Naftali, You're Certifiable: The Alternative Career Guide to More Than 700 Certificate Programs, Trade Schools, and Job Opportunities, page 155,

     Graphology, or handwriting analysis, is the study and interpretation of handwriting as an indicator of personality. Professional graphologists offer four primary services: graphology classes to hobbyists, personality profiles to help individuals increase their self-knowledge and potential for change, personnel screening and consultation for employers, and questioned document examination, or forensic graphology, to identify forged handwriting and documents for legal purposes.

   • 2003, Michael Hau, The Cult of Health and Beauty in Germany: A Social History, 1890-1930‎, page 50:

     The philosopher Ludwig Klages saw graphology as a means to penetrate the deceptive self-presentation of his contemporaries and unveil their true character.

   • 2006, Bethan Benwell, Elizabeth Stokoe, Discourse and Identity, page 263,

     Graphology and graphological deviation are likely to be very significant in a mode that lacks non-textual social cues, such as paralanguage, prosody and gesture.

2. A system of handwriting.
   • 1930, Frances E. O'Brien, Individualism in Child Art, unnumbered page,

     "Talented" children fall into one of two classes: those with an imitative ability who readily absorb the preconceived graphologies they see about them in pictures, magazines and books, and those […] .

   • 1984, David Shapiro, Jasper Johns: Drawings 1954-1984‎, page 29:

     This 1960 work, like the black works of Rauschenberg and the graphologies of Cy Twombly, is our most patient analysis of multiplicity.

• graphological
• graphologist

• logography