From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishphysiognomyphys‧i‧og‧no‧my /ˌfɪziˈɒnəmi $ -ˈɑː-, -ˈɑːɡ-/ noun (plural physiognomies) [countable] technicalHBHAPPEARANCE the general appearance of a person’s face
Examples from the Corpus
physiognomy• He has studied the details of their forms and physiognomy and renders them in a manner both truthful and original.• Chris's physiognomy shows Botham lines AT first glance, who would you say this gent looks like?• The flaws, if such they are, are in the physiognomy of a giant.• We have become expert in the physiognomy of pleasure, the nodes to press, the points to massage.• I did not want to mirror the face-value language, the physiognomy of the architecture.• His approach to the Celts was deliberate; he intended to preserve the physiognomy of a world in danger of disappearing.Origin physiognomy (1200-1300) Old French phisonomie, from Late Latin physiognomonia, from Greek, from physis “nature, appearance” + gnomon “interpreter” 