A person who studies and analyzes handwriting to determine personality traits and psychological characteristics.
Grapho- (writing) + -logist (one who studies). The term emerged in the 19th century as graphology developed into a pseudo-scientific practice.
Historical graphologists were hired by companies to screen job applicants—they'd claim your loop size and slant angle predicted whether you'd be honest or lazy, which is why modern hiring practices moved away from this method!
The term uses the masculine-coded 'graphologist' default; history of graphology (handwriting analysis) in forensics and psychology had early female practitioners (Michon, d'Arpentigny) whose contributions were often credited to male colleagues or institutionalized under male-named methods.
Use 'graphologist' as gender-neutral professional term, or specify 'handwriting analyst' if seeking gendered alternative.
["handwriting analyst","forensic document examiner"]
Early graphologists like Crescence Saint-Morand and Abbé Michon were women; their methodological contributions were foundational yet often subsumed into 'male' schools of graphology.
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