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Hi all - newbie here. I know the above word from reading 19th century adventures as a kid - it seemed to mean something like 'having a squat body and bulbous eyes'. I learned it along with such words as steatopygous - words from the pseudoscience of physiognomy, maybe? I'm surprised to find that googling it - with variations of spelling - comes up with almost nothing at all. It's not in the Shorter OED either... I'm beginning to wonder if it's a word at all...
Any thoughts?
Adam Browne
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Carpal Tunnel
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this seems to be my day for plumping for OneLook
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Pooh-Bah
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Hi Adam I would hate to pyknik on something that had a squat body and bulgy eyes but maybe that's just personal preference. 
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stranger
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Ah, pyknic, with a c. Never thought of that. Thanks.
A little embarrassedly,
Adam
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addict
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What an unusual word. Is that pronounced the same as "picnic" ?
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I guess so, Hydra. It's listed in a homophone dictionary at the OneLook page tsuwm tsited. Click on one of the dictionaries there to see.
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it's not an outside lunch, in Russia?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Quote:
'having a squat body and bulbous eyes'.
Adam Browne
The pyknic type.
There's nothing about the bulbous eyes in the dictio's, which makes the word a little less special.
With no bulbous eyes it's just another fleshy person.
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Basically it comes from this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_KretschmerKretschmer is also known for developing a classification system that can be seen as one of the earliest exponents of a constitutional (the total plan or philosophy on which something is constructed) approach. His classification system was based on three main body types: asthenic/leptosomic (thin, small, weak), athletic (muscular, large–boned), and pyknic (stocky, fat). (The athletic category was later combined into the category asthenic/leptosomic.) Each of these body types was associated with certain personality traits and, in a more extreme form, psychopathologies. Kretschmer believed that pyknic persons were friendly, interpersonally dependent, and gregarious. In a more extreme version of these traits, this would mean for example that the obese are predisposed toward manic-depressive illness. Thin types were associated with introversion and timidity. This was seen as a milder form of the negative symptoms exhibited by withdrawn schizophrenics. However, the idea of the association of body types with personality traits is no longer influential in personality theory. In 1926 he became the director of the psychiatric clinic at Marburg University.
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What about endomorph, ectomorph and mesomorph?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Endomorph---stocky build Ectomorph---tall long Mesomorph---huskey muscular Practically synonim to Kretschtmer's typology, but without psychological implications. (outdated anyway) But Hydra, what do you think of this definition coming from Encarta: The whole thing: Mesomorph : a husky muscular body or somebody who has such a body. 
The 'or' in this sentence makes me chuckle. I do not understand the 'or 'in this phrase. It's like someone is hiding
such a body in a closet or something. What about this sentence ? Don't you think it is a weird definition?
Last edited by BranShea; 01/24/07 11:02 AM.
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Pooh-Bah
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It does make the husky body sound like a spare. As opposed to pyknik which just has a spare tire.
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>a husky muscular body or somebody who has such a body.
Ha, ha!
A very unusual distinction is being made here, you're right, and with ridiculous implications: The second refers to someone having a husky, muscular body; the first to a husky, muscular body lacking a someone—an automatized hulk of muscle without a mind.
Reminds me of some of the people I see at the gym.
Warning: This thread is now in danger of entering into the Cartesian mind/body dichotomy.
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Quote:
Warning: This thread is now in danger of entering into the Cartesian mind/body dichotomy.
Heaven forfend that we should think.
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Quote:
Reminds me of some of the people I see at the gym.
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a husky muscular body or somebody who has such a body
I--already knowing the meaning of mesomorph, mind you--saw this as going from the general to the specific, as in: mesomorphs have thick bodies OR "That guy really shouldn't wear tiny swim trunks--he's a mesomorph."
However, I can see where the def. might make you wonder what's in a certain person's closet...
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