graphology

noun

Etymology: From French graphologie, coined by Jean-Hippolyte Michon from Ancient Greek γραφή (graphḗ, “writing”) + French -logie (“study of”). By surface analysis, grapho- + -logy.

1. The study of handwriting, especially as a means of analyzing a person's character.

   “Near-synonym: psychographology (sometimes synonymous)”

   “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.”

2. A system of handwriting.

   “"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[…].”

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