stylometry

[stahy-lom-i-tree]

noun

1. the analytic study of literary styles, especially as applied to questions of authorship.

   The claim that this is Defoe’s manuscript remains unsupported by anyone proficient in stylometry.

Other Word Forms

• stylometric adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stylometry¹

First recorded in 1945–50; stylo- ¹ ( def. ) + -metry ( def. )

Example Sentences

The FBI used a form of stylometry to show that Ted Kaczynski was the Unabomber.

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Instead of relying on expert opinion, the computer scientists used a mathematical approach known as stylometry.

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But advocates of stylometry note that they can quantify their software’s error rate.

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Stylometry uses computers to statistically measure the most frequent words in a text.

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But stylometry isn't just useful in cases where a text's authorship is disputed, it can also be used to analyze stylistic similarity more generally.

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