hymenology

Noun

hymenology (plural hymenologies)

1. The scientific study of the hymen.
   • CHAPTER 3
     Hymenology
     Given the pronounced variations in size and shape from woman to woman, perhaps it would be more accurate to identify the hymen as a site than as an anatomical part.2008, Hanne Blank, Virgin: The Untouched History, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, →ISBN, page 32
   • It is preferable to discuss these criteria later in the chapter, however, within the context of Greek virginity and hymenology.2009, Ryan Byrne, Bernadette McNary-Zak, Resurrecting the Brother of Jesus: The James Ossuary Controversy and the Quest for Religious Relics, University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 146
2. (countable) A treatise on the topic of the hymen.
   • It may be helpful at this point to anticipate part of the argument in Chapter 1, “Hymenologies: the multiple signs of virginity.” Today, the primary physiological “sign” of virginity in women is considered to be the “unbroken” hymen; [...]2002, Kathleen Coyne Kelly, chapter 1, in Performing Virginity and Testing Chastity in the Middle Ages, Routledge, →ISBN
3. The scientific study of membranes in general.

   Synonyms:

   membranology

4. (countable) A treatise on the topic of membranes.
   • There exist treatises on membranes or hymenologies; descriptions of membranes or hymenographies.2017, Jacques Derrida, Acts of Literature, Routledge, →ISBN
   • Within the various hymenologies, or treatises on membranes, one finds all three of Bacon's [models.]2007, Claudia Mesch, Viola Maria Michely, Joseph Beuys: The Reader, I.B.Tauris