Dictionary

characteristic en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• [ˌkʰæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk] (General-American) without the Mary–marry–merry merger
• /ˌkɛɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/ General American, Mary–marry–merry merger
• /ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/ (General-American) without the Mary–marry–merry merger
• (California) audio
• /ˌkæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek χαράσσω (kharássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Hellenic *-tḗr Ancient Greek -τήρ (-tḗr) Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr) Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō) Ancient Greek χαρακτηρίζω (kharaktērízō) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Hellenic *-tis Ancient Greek -τῐς (-tĭs) Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τος (-tos) ▲ Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Ancient Greek -τικός (-tikós) Ancient Greek χᾰρᾰκτηριστῐκός (khărăktēristĭkós)der. English characteristic From Ancient Greek χαρακτηριστικός (kharaktēristikós), from χαρακτηρίζω (kharaktērízō, “to designate by a characteristic mark”), from χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “a mark, character”). By surface analysis, character + -istic.

Meanings

1. Indicating a distinguishing feature of a person or thing; typical.
   • Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
2. (archaic) Describing or pertaining to personal characters or character types; characterful.
   • “Great men have their surprising peculiarities,” I observed inanely. “[…] How did the great feminist wind up this very characteristic episode?” 1911, Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes, Penguin Classics, published 2007, page 138:

Forms

Antonyms

untypical · uncharacteristic

Deriveds

bicharacteristic · characteristic time · characteristic vector · equicharacteristic · characteristic root · characteristic polynomial · characteristic value · characteristicness · noncharacteristic · characteristic function

Synonyms

indicative · distinctive · idiosyncratic · specific · representative · proper · typical · signature · exclusive

Translations (60)

es característico (being a distinguishing feature) · da kendetegnende (being a distinguishing feature) · uk притама́нний (being a distinguishing feature) · de kennzeichnend (being a distinguishing feature) · eo karakteriza (being a distinguishing feature) · uk типо́вий (being a distinguishing feature) · fr caractéristique (being a distinguishing feature) · ru отличи́тельный (being a distinguishing feature) · nl kenmerkend (being a distinguishing feature) · no karakteristisk (being a distinguishing feature) · lv raksturīgs (being a distinguishing feature) · nl karakteristiek (being a distinguishing feature) · cmn 特有的 (being a distinguishing feature) · th คุณลักษณะ (being a distinguishing feature) · sh značajka (being a distinguishing feature) · sv karakteristisk (being a distinguishing feature) · hu jellemző (being a distinguishing feature) · da karakteristisk (being a distinguishing feature) · de bezeichnend (being a distinguishing feature) · ka დამახასიათებელი (being a distinguishing feature) · it caratteristico (being a distinguishing feature) · ru типи́чный (being a distinguishing feature) · hu jellegzetes (being a distinguishing feature) · io karakteriziva (being a distinguishing feature) · fi karakteristinen (being a distinguishing feature) · hy բնորոշ (being a distinguishing feature) · cs charakteristický (being a distinguishing feature) · el τυπικός (being a distinguishing feature) · tl katangian (being a distinguishing feature) · pt caraterístico (being a distinguishing feature) · io distingiva (being a distinguishing feature) · bg характерен (being a distinguishing feature) · de charakteristisch (being a distinguishing feature) · ia characteristic (being a distinguishing feature) · nl idiosyncratisch (being a distinguishing feature) · cmn 特性的 (being a distinguishing feature) · th ลักษณะ (being a distinguishing feature) · pl charakterystyczny (being a distinguishing feature) · ba хас (being a distinguishing feature) · ru характе́рный (being a distinguishing feature) · ga sainiúil (being a distinguishing feature) · fi tunnusomainen (being a distinguishing feature) · az səciyyəvi (being a distinguishing feature) · kmr taybetmendî (being a distinguishing feature) · nrf caractéthistique (being a distinguishing feature) · mi tūāhua (being a distinguishing feature) · ast carauterísticu (being a distinguishing feature) · de typisch (being a distinguishing feature) · sv kännetecknande (being a distinguishing feature) · uk характе́рний (being a distinguishing feature) · sk charakteristický (being a distinguishing feature) · fi luonteenomainen (being a distinguishing feature) · sh osobina (being a distinguishing feature) · ca característic (being a distinguishing feature) · fi ominainen (being a distinguishing feature) · el χαρακτηριστικός (being a distinguishing feature) · ro caracteristic (being a distinguishing feature) · pt característico (being a distinguishing feature) · gl característico (being a distinguishing feature) · bg отличителен (being a distinguishing feature)

characteristic en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• [ˌkʰæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk] (General-American) without the Mary–marry–merry merger
• /ˌkɛɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/ General American, Mary–marry–merry merger
• /ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/ (General-American) without the Mary–marry–merry merger
• (California) audio
• /ˌkæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek χαράσσω (kharássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Hellenic *-tḗr Ancient Greek -τήρ (-tḗr) Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr) Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō) Ancient Greek χαρακτηρίζω (kharaktērízō) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Hellenic *-tis Ancient Greek -τῐς (-tĭs) Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τος (-tos) ▲ Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Ancient Greek -τικός (-tikós) Ancient Greek χᾰρᾰκτηριστῐκός (khărăktēristĭkós)der. English characteristic From Ancient Greek χαρακτηριστικός (kharaktēristikós), from χαρακτηρίζω (kharaktērízō, “to designate by a characteristic mark”), from χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “a mark, character”). By surface analysis, character + -istic.

Meanings

1. A distinguishing feature of a person or thing, a part of mental or physical behavior.
2. The integer part of a logarithm.
   • Similarly, the characteristic for .003 is −3, and the characteristic for .0003 is −4. 1961, “Principles and Applications of Mathematics for Communications-Electronics”, in U.S, Department of the Army, page 69:
   • It is evident, moreover, that as the logarithms of numbers, which are tenfold, the one of the other, do not differ except in their characteristics, it is sufficient that the tables contain the fractional parts only of the logarithms. 1830, Solomon Pearson Miles, Thomas Sherwin, Mathematical Tables: Comprising Logarithms of Numbers, […] , page 69:
   • As the sine and cosine are always proper fractions their logarithms are negative, i.e. have negative characteristics. When we are given an angle, it is impossible to say, from inspection of the angle, what the characteristic of the logarithm of its sine, cosine or tangent may be; so the characteristics have to be printed with the mantissae. 1911, F. T. Swanwick, Elementary Trigonometry, Cambridge University Press, page 60:
3. The distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified (colour, pattern of flashes etc.).
4. (qualifier:field theory; ring theory; field theory; ring theory) For a given field or ring, a natural number that is either the smallest positive number n such that n instances of the multiplicative identity (1) summed together yield the additive identity (0) or, if no such number exists, the number 0.
   • The characteristic of a field, if non-zero, must be a prime number.
   • 1992, Simeon Ivanov (translator), P. M. Gudivok, E. Ya. Pogorilyak, On Modular Representations of Finite Groups over Integral Domains, Simeon Ivanov (editor), Galois Theory, Rings, Algebraic Groups and Their Applications, American Mathematical Society, page 87, Let R be a Noetherian factorial ring of characteristic p which is not a field.
   • Traditionally, a complete, discretely valued field of characteristic zero, the maximal ideal of whose valuation ring is generated by the prime number p, has been called a p-adic field. In our terminology, the valuation ring of a p-adic field is a Cohen ring of characteristic zero whose residue field has characteristic p, and consequently a p-adic field is simply the quotient field of such a Cohen ring. 1993, S. Warner, Topological Rings, Elsevier (North-Holland), page 424:
   • 1962 [John Wiley & Sons], Nathan Jacobson, Lie Algebras, 1979, Dover, page 289, In this chapter we study the problem of classifying the finite-dimensional simple Lie algebras over an arbitrary field of characteristic 0.

Forms

Coordinates

mantissa (part of a logarithm)

Deriveds

defining characteristic · subcharacteristic · derived characteristic · demand characteristic · Euler characteristic · biocharacteristic · secondary sex characteristic · semicharacteristic · acquired characteristic · sex characteristic · light characteristic

Holonyms

jizz · conduct · guise

Hypernyms

entity · individualness

Hyponyms

personal quality · chemical property · physical property

Relateds

mantissa · characteristically

Synonyms

property · tendency (distinguishing feature of a person or thing) · trademark (distinguishing feature of a person or thing) · idiosyncrasy (distinguishing feature of a person or thing) · trait (distinguishing feature of a person or thing) · distinctiveness · race · hallmark (distinguishing feature of a person or thing) · touch · owndom · mannerism (distinguishing feature of a person or thing) · vein · quality (distinguishing feature of a person or thing) · designation · propriety · attribute (distinguishing feature of a person or thing) · whatness · characteristic · parameter · feature

Translations (89)

az özəllik (distinguishing feature) · de Charakteristik (distinguishing feature) · ru черта́ (distinguishing feature) · ko 특징 (distinguishing feature) · nl trekje (distinguishing feature) · fi karakteristika (integer part of a logarithm) · cmn 特質 /特质 (distinguishing feature) · lg embaala (distinguishing feature) · lt savybė (distinguishing feature) · da karakteristik (distinguishing feature) · nl karakteristiek (distinguishing feature) · ru характе́рная черта́ (distinguishing feature) · fi erityispiirre (distinguishing feature) · ja 特徴 (distinguishing feature) · ga aitreabúid (distinguishing feature) · de Merkmal (distinguishing features of a navigational light) · io karakteristiko (integer part of a logarithm) · de Eigenschaft (distinguishing feature) · de Merkmal (distinguishing feature) · vi đặc điểm (distinguishing feature) · de Charakteristik (distinguishing features of a navigational light) · az xüsusiyyət (distinguishing feature) · id karekteristik (distinguishing feature) · pt característica (integer part of a logarithm) · nl kenmerk (distinguishing feature) · eo karakterizilo (distinguishing feature) · uk особли́вість (distinguishing feature) · cs vlastnost (distinguishing feature) · lv raksturojums (integer part of a logarithm) · pt caraterística (integer part of a logarithm) · ext caraiterística (distinguishing feature) · ru осо́бенность (distinguishing feature) · uk характери́стика (integer part of a logarithm) · pt caraterística (distinguishing feature) · ast carauterística (distinguishing feature) · ca característica (integer part of a logarithm) · hy բնորոշ գիծ (distinguishing feature) · nb særtrekk (distinguishing feature) · pdt Ieejenschoft (distinguishing feature) · de Eigenart (distinguishing features of a navigational light) · ru отличи́тельная черта́ (distinguishing feature) · gl característica (distinguishing feature) · de Charakteristik (integer part of a logarithm) · hu jellemző (distinguishing feature) · mk одлика (distinguishing feature) · uk озна́ка (distinguishing feature) · de Eigenschaft (distinguishing features of a navigational light) · io proprajo (distinguishing feature) · de Charakterbuchstabe (distinguishing feature) · de in grammar (distinguishing feature) · bn বৈশিষ্ট্য (distinguishing feature) · nn særtrekk (distinguishing feature) · io karakterizivo (distinguishing feature) · bg отличителна черта (distinguishing feature) · sv karakteristikum (distinguishing feature) · cmn 特性 (distinguishing feature) · ro caracteristică (distinguishing feature) · io traito (distinguishing feature) · ca característica (distinguishing feature) · fi tuntomerkki (distinguishing feature) · sv karakteristik (distinguishing feature) · izh tuntomerkki (distinguishing feature) · pl cecha (distinguishing feature) · sl značilnost (distinguishing feature) · ja 特性 (distinguishing feature) · tl buumbahagi (integer part of a logarithm) · pt característica (distinguishing feature) · ru характери́стика (integer part of a logarithm) · tl katangian (distinguishing feature) · fi tunnusmerkki (distinguishing feature) · sq karakteristikë (distinguishing feature) · fr caractéristique (distinguishing feature) · ar صِفَة (distinguishing feature) · gl característica (integer part of a logarithm) · de Eigenart (distinguishing feature) · de Kennwert (integer part of a logarithm) · id karakteristik (distinguishing feature) · ko 특성 (distinguishing feature) · el χαρακτηριστικό (distinguishing feature) · es característica (distinguishing feature) · cs charakteristika (distinguishing feature) · it caratteristica (distinguishing feature) · he סממן (distinguishing feature) · sk charakteristika (distinguishing feature) · eu ezaugarri (distinguishing feature) · lt bruožas (distinguishing feature) · izh tunnusmerkki (distinguishing feature) · uk характе́рна ри́са (distinguishing feature) · de Kenngröße (integer part of a logarithm)