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polygraphy|pəˈlɪgrəfɪ|
[ad. Gr. πολυγραϕία a writing much; see polygraphic a. (n.) So F. polygraphie (1561 in Hatz.-Darm.) in sense 1.]
I.
†1. A kind of cipher or secret writing (? a combination of various ciphers, or ? an abbreviated cipher resembling shorthand, i.e. containing much in little space):
a. orig. An arbitrary name by Trithemius 1518 for his system of secret writing.
b. Applied by Aulay Macaulay to his system of shorthand. Obs.
[1518J. Trithemius (title) Poligraphiæ libri VI, cum clave seu enucleatorio.] 1593R. Harvey Philad. 56 The Histories were written in some strange kind of polygraphy and steganography. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. iii. v. (1651) 498 Such occult notes,..Polygraphy,..or magnetical telling of their minds. 1727–41Chambers Cycl., Polygraphy,..the art of writing in various unusual manners or cyphers; as also of decyphering the same... The word is usually confounded with steganography and cryptography. 1747A. Macaulay (title) Polygraphy; or Short-Hand made easy..Being an universal character fitted to all Languages. 1855Chamb. Jrnl. IV. 134/2 These decipherers gave the high-sounding names of Cryptography, Cryptology, Polygraphy, and Steganography, to their art.
II.
2. Much writing; copious or various literary work.
a1661Fuller Worthies, Cambr. (1662) i. 162 One, considering his Polygraphy, said merrily, ‘that he must write whilst he slept, it being unpossible he should do so much when waking’. 1831Fraser's Mag. III. 715 Even Sir Walter Scott, with all his multifarious polygraphy—what is he beside the goodly Summa Theologiæ of Thomas Aquinas? 1890Sat. Rev. 22 Nov. 602/2 It has been too much the fashion to dismiss his wonderful ‘polygraphy’, his miscellaneous journalism.., with a sort of allowance as merely wonderful of its kind.
III. 3. a. A method of producing copies of paintings, invented by Joseph Booth c 1788: see polygraphic 2.
1788J. Booth Addr. Polygraphic Art 13 Having thus considered the invention of Polygraphy.
b. The use of a polygraph (polygraph n. 1 a).
1828Webster, Polygraphic, Polygraphical, pertaining to polygraphy, as a polygraphic instrument. 1886Cassell's Encycl. Dict., Polygraphy... 3. The art of making a number of drawings or writings simultaneously. 1895Funk's Stand. Dict., Polygraphy. 1. The use of a polygraph.
c. The use of a polygraph (sense 3).
1923W. D. Reid Heart in Mod. Pract. iii. 63 Polygraph tracings are also taken from the apex of the heart, the carotid artery, and over the liver, but their importance does not warrant description in this limited presentation of polygraphy. 1954Reporter (N.Y.) 22 June 22/2 The most acute current problem in polygraphy..is how to set and maintain professional standards. 1973Biomed. Engin. VIII. 155/3 To readers outside of the field of polygraphy, it will perhaps seem remarkable that electronic recording is not used for all three channels and that other physiological events are not recorded routinely. |