metopomancy

English

Etymology

From French métopomantie (from Ancient Greek μέτωπον (métōpon, “forehead”)), later reformed after +‎ -mancy.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɪˈtɒpəmænsi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɪˈtɑpəmænsi/

Noun

metopomancy (uncountable)

1. (now historical) Divination by interpreting the facial lines and wrinkles, especially the forehead. [from 17th c.]
   • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 231:

     These elaborate systems of divination, with their subdivisions, such as divination by moles on the face, or lines on the forehead (metopomancy), had been set out in many medieval treatises […].

Synonyms

• metoposcopy

References

• "Metopomantie" in Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & English Tongues (1632): "f. Diuination by the face"
• "Metopomancy" in Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary (1974): "fortunetelling by examining the face."