Physiognomy is what? Meaning of the word

"Physiognomy" - this noun came into Russian only a few centuries ago. However, the popular people have never been particularly popular because of the fact that they have more convenient analogues in the pronunciation. What are they, and what does the word "physiognomy" in general mean? Where did it come from in modern languages? Let's find the answers to all these questions.

The meaning of the word "physiognomy"

This noun feminine is used when describing the face of a person. In this case, the word under consideration is not very common in colloquial speech, although from the beginning of the XX century. Became more active in it. For example: "The physiognomy of this sullen old man for her whole life crashed into memory."

The sphere of use of this noun in direct meaning is most often an artistic or scientific literature. For example: "Considering the physiognomy of subject A, you can see he has a particularly prominent superciliary arches."

This is the main significance. But in addition, this word is often used when describing someone's expression: "At the sight of all that happened he had such a surprised face that you just could not help laughing, looking at her."

Cases of the use of this term in a figurative sense are not uncommon. As a rule, this is done when describing someone's appearance or individual traits (including character). And it can be not only a person, but also a city, a country, and also some kind of abstract concept. For example: "The physiognomy of the modern economy is still as disgusting and inhuman as in all past centuries."

Origin of the term

"Physiognomy" is a word that has come to modern European languages from Greek through Latin.

It is formed from two terms of the Greek language: physis and gnomon, which literally can be translated as "knowing nature".

In the Romans this word was written as a physiognomia and, having undergone only small changes, remained practically in the same form in many modern languages.

In Russian, Ukrainian (fizionomiya) and Polish (fizjonomia) this term came from the French, which is written as a physionomie. The fact that it was French that gave our language this noun is evidenced by the fact that the German person's physiognomy is described by the word Visage, and in the English version (physiognomy) the letter g is preserved. In this case, it was lost in French, which influenced the Russian writing of the lexeme.

Physiognomy and physiognomy

Particularly active in the speech of educated people, this word began in the XVIII century. And initially it was used not to describe the front of the head, but as the name of ancient science. She specialized in "reading" the character of a particular person with the help of his features. By the way, this science was popular with ancient Greeks and Romans.

Over time, this discipline began to be called "physiognomy", and today it exists under the same name. And the word "physiognomy" left after all linguistic manipulations is the name of the person or his expression.

It is worth noting that today the science of physiognomy continues to be as popular as in antiquity. At the same time, most of her theories have not yet found actual confirmation in practice. Therefore, it is considered a more theoretical discipline than practical, and is studied as a section of general psychology.

It is worth noting that individual discoveries of physiognomy and its methods of studying the human face were subsequently adopted by criminology, medicine, as well as visual arts.

What synonyms can be chosen for this term?

Having dealt with the origin and semantics of the noun "physiognomy", synonyms for it will be much simpler.

As is clear from the definition, the absolute equivalent of this noun is the word "person". In each of the above examples of the use of this word it can be painlessly this synonym. For example: "The face of this sullen old man for her whole life crashed into memory."

Also in the meaning of "physiognomy", one-root "Faces" Nouns "face", "appearance." For example: "The image of modern economy is still as revolting and inhuman, as in all past centuries."

In addition, it is permissible to use the outdated name "physics" as a synonym.

Replace the token "Physiognomy" can have words that have a more coarse character: "mug", "mine", "harya", "muzzle" or "ryakha". For example, a well-known phrase from a multi-part film "Meeting place can not be Changed": "Well, you have a face, Sharapov" Can sound and so: "Well, you have a face, Sharapov," while not losing its meaning.

In the meaning of "facial expression," the word "physiognomy" can be replaced by the lexical "grimace" unit.

Antonyms to the word "physiognomy"

This word has many synonyms, but with the selection of antonyms everything is much more complicated.

In principle, the concept we are considering (if we look for analogs in the direct sense) can be replaced, perhaps, by the word "nape". For example: "At first the doctor studied the face of the boy, then forced him to turn around and began to examine his neck."

Grammar and Morpheic

Since the noun we are considering is of a foreign origin, it is impossible to explain its spelling with the help of any orthographic rules of the Russian language. Thus, "physiognomy" refers to vocabulary words, the writing of which you just need to learn by heart.

By analyzing a given noun by its components, you can find several interesting points.

First, the root of the word "physiognomy" is not one - there are two of them at once. This is "physical" and "nom", connected by means of the interfix "o". Secondly, it is noteworthy that such a structure has been preserved in the word under consideration since the time of its formation in the Greek language.

In addition to two roots and an interfix, the parsed word has the suffix "iy" and the ending "a".

Term "Physiognomy" is not very common today in colloquial speech. This is explained quite simply. First, in our language there are more words familiar to the Russian word, quite capable of replacing the borrowed lexeme, and secondly, it is rarely used due to the peculiarities of writing and structure. Moreover, every self-respecting educated person, even if he does not use this noun in his speech, still must remember what it means and how it is written.