Aquiline nose

"Roman nose" redirects here. For the Cheyenne warrior, see Hook Nose.

An aquiline nose (also called a Roman nose) is a human nose with a prominent bridge, giving it the appearance of being curved or slightly bent. The word aquiline comes from the Latin word aquilinus ("eagle-like"), an allusion to the curved beak of an eagle.^[2][3][4] While some have ascribed the aquiline nose to specific ethnic, racial, or geographic groups, and in some cases associated it with other supposed non-physical characteristics (i.e. intelligence, status, personality, etc.—see below), no scientific studies or evidence support any such linkage. As with many phenotypical expressions (e.g. 'widow's peak', eye color, earwax type) it is found in many geographically diverse populations.

An "aquiline" nasal profile

From parody nose classification Notes on Noses: "It indicates great decision, considerable Energy, Firmness, Absence of Refinement, and disregard for the bienseances of life".^[1]

In racist discourse

In racist discourse, especially that of post-Enlightenment Western writers, a Roman nose has been characterized as a marker of beauty and nobility.^[5] A well-known example of the aquiline nose as a marker contrasting the bearer with their contemporaries is the protagonist of Aphra Behn's Oroonoko (1688). Although an African prince, he speaks French, has straightened hair, thin lips, and a "nose that was rising and Roman instead of African and flat".^[6] These features set him apart from most of his peers, and marked him instead as noble and on par with Europeans.^[7][8][9]

In the context of scientific racism, writers have attributed aquiline noses as a characteristic of different "races"; e.g. Jan Czekanowski claimed that it was characteristic of the Arabid race, Armenoid race, Mediterranean race, and Dinarid race.^[10] In 1899, William Z. Ripley claimed that it was characteristic of peoples of Teutonic descent.^[11] The supposed science of physiognomy, popular during the Victorian era, made the "prominent" nose a marker of Aryanness: "the shape of the nose and the cheeks indicated, like the forehead's angle, the subject's social status and level of intelligence. A Roman nose was superior to a snub nose in its suggestion of firmness and power, and heavy jaws revealed a latent sensuality and coarseness".^[12]

See also

• Rhinoplasty § Nasal analysis
• Jewish nose – Ethnic stereotype