before a vowel crani-, combining form of Gr. κρᾱνίον CRANIUM.
a. In combinations, chiefly in sense ‘belonging or relating to the cranium and…’; as cranio-facial a., belonging to both the cranium and the face; cranio-spinal a., belonging to the cranium and the spine; so craniacromial [ACROMION], cranio-pharyngeal, -thoracic, -vertebral adjs.; also cranio-tabes [L. tābēs wasting away, putrefaction], ‘a form of rickets in which the skull bones are softened’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.).
b. In derivative formations, as Craniectomy [Gr. ἐκτομή excision], see quot. Craniocele [see CELE sb.], ‘the protrusion of a part of the encephalon from the cranial cavity’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.). Cranioclasm [Gr. κλάσμα fracture, breaking], the breaking up of the fœtal head in the operation of craniotomy; Cranioclast [Gr. -κλάστης breaker], an instrument for doing this. Craniognomic a. [Gr. γνωμικ-ός of or pertaining to knowledge], pertaining to craniognomy. Craniognomy [Gr. γνώμη knowledge], ‘the science of the form and characteristics of the skull’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.). Craniognosy [Gr. γνῶσις knowledge] = prec. Craniograph [Gr. -γραφος writer], an instrument for taking drawings of the skull; Craniographer, one who draws or describes skulls; Craniography, description of skulls. Craniometer [Gr. μέτρον measure], an instrument for taking measurements of skulls; Craniometric, Craniometrical a., pertaining to craniometry; hence Craniometrically adv.; Craniometrist, one who practises craniometry; Craniometry, measurement of the skull. Craniopathy [Gr. -πάθεια, f. πάθος suffering], ‘disease of the cranium’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.). Craniophore [Gr. -φορος bearing], an instrument invented by Topinard for measuring the dimensions and proportions of the skull. Cranioplasty [Gr. -πλαστία, f. πλαστός molded, fashioned], an operation for supplying deficiencies in the cranial structures. Craniopolis (nonce-wd.) [Gr. πόλις city], a city of skulls. Cranioscopic, Cranioscopical a., pertaining to cranioscopy; Cranioscopist, one who studies cranioscopy; Cranioscopy [Gr. -σκοπία, f. -σκοπος that views], examination of the size and configuration of the skull; formerly applied to what is now commonly called PHRENOLOGY. Craniosophic a. (nonce-wd. after philosophic, etc.), learned in skulls. Craniotome [Gr. -τομος cutting], ‘name for the trephine; also a name for the craniotomy forceps’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.); Craniotomy [Gr. -τομία, f. -τομος cutting], in obstetric surgery, an operation in which the head of the fœtus is cut open and broken down when it presents an obstacle to delivery; hence craniotomy forceps, a forceps used in this operation.
1891. Lancet, 3 Oct., 761. [The operation] of *craniectomy, in which a strip of bone is removed from the cranium and the development of the brain … allowed to go on.
1860. Simpson, Cranioclasm, in Syd. Soc. Year-bk. (1861), 357. The operations of craniotomy, cephalotripsy, and *cranioclasm. Ibid. In the latter operation [Cranioclasm] two instruments are necessary—a perforator … and the *Cranioclast.
1852–9. Todd, Cycl. Anat., IV. 656/1. The number of *cranio-facial segments.
1819. Pantologia, *Craniognomy.… A visionary system of physiognomy, lately brought forward by Dr. Gall of Vienna.
1810. Phil. Mag., XXXVI. 74. Materials for a comparative *craniognosy.
1878. Bartley, trans. Topinard’s Anthrop., 271. Profile taken with M. Broca’s *craniograph.
1861. Wright, Ess. Archæol., I. v. 84. To these [Anglo-Saxon cemeteries] … I would especially invite the attention of the *craniographer. Ibid., 83. That branch of it [ethnology] which may be conveniently and properly termed *craniography.
1878. Bartley, trans. Topinard’s Anthrop., 297. The *craniometer substitutes mathematical data for the uncertain data founded on judgment and opinion. Ibid., 219. Requisite for *craniometrical study.
1882. Athenæum, 2 Dec., 738/3. A list of the *craniometric measures and processes adopted.
1889. J. Sully, in Harper’s Mag., June, 105/1. Having been *craniometrically examined. Ibid., 105/2. He invited her to a comparative measurement by the authorized *craniometrists.
1861. Cleland, in Syd. Soc. Year-bk., 30. On a Method of *Craniometry.
1881. Trans. Vict. Inst., 28. Craniometry indicates that the natives of these islands are more mixed than either of the other Polynesian races.
1882. Syd. Soc. Lex., *Craniopharyngeal ligament, the thickened median part of the pharyngeal aponeurosis attached to the tuberculum pharyngeum of the basilar process of the occipital bone.
1878. Bartley, trans. Topinard’s Anthrop., II. iii. 274. A new *craniophore (an instrument for taking all the cranial projections) by Paul Topinard.
1818. Blackw. Mag., IV. 328. A populous Place of Skulls—a *Craniopolis like the catacombs.
1813. W. Taylor, in Monthly Mag., XXXV. 140. [Dr. Gall’s] *cranioscopic passion.
1820. Blackw. Mag., VI. 651. *Cranioscopical landmarks drawn so geometrically by their rivals.
1809–10. Coleridge, Friend (1818), III. 79. A literary man, whose skull puzzled the *cranioscopists.
1804. Edin. Rev., III. 415. Uroscopy has … given way to *cranioscopy.
1865. Masson, Rec. Brit. Philos., iii. 191. Gall (1757–1828), whose system of Cranioscopy, publishing itself under the name of Phrenology [etc.].
1819. Blackw. Mag., IV. 564. A *Craniosophic public would disdain that work.
1847. Todd, Cycl. Anat., III. 641/2. The *cranio-spinal cavity.
1849. H. Mayo, Truths Pop. Superst., v. 78. The segments of the cranio-spinal cord in which the sentient and voluntary nerves are rooted.
1860. Syd. Soc. Year-bk. (1861), 400. *Cranio tabes occurring epidemically.
1855. Ramsbotham, Obstetr. Med., 22. A woman whom I delivered … by *craniotomy.
