pogonotrophy

pogonotrophy (poh-guh-NA-troh-fee) - n., the act of cultivating or trimming a beard, mustache, sideburns, or other facial hair.


Beard-growing, literally. Not to be confused with pogonotomy, beard-cutting. This is generally only used humorously, dating back to the 1850s, but to my surprise it is not a 19th century coinage from Ancient Greek roots: the coinage was made by the ancient (or at least Hellenistic) Greeks, as pōgōnotrophia, which was used by Plutarch. The roots are pōgōn-, beard + -trophia, nourishing.


Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.