n.1. the form of a person’s physical features, especially the face. 2. the attempt to read personality from facial features and expression, assuming, for example, that a person with a receding chin is weak or one with a high forehead is bright. The idea dates back to Aristotle and was later developed into a pseudoscientific system by Johann Lavater and subsequently by Italian criminologist and psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909). Also called physiognomics. See also characterology; criminal anthropology; phrenology.