adj
Meaning 1
Being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
characteristic
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˌkæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/
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General-American: /ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/ without the Mary–marry–merry merger
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General-American: [ˌkhæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk] without the Mary–marry–merry merger
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/ˌkɛɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/ General American, Mary–marry–merry merger
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California: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɪstɪk
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CMU ARPABET: K EH2 R AH0 K T ER0 IH1 S T IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A distinguishing feature of a person or thing, a part of mental or physical behavior.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
The integer part of a logarithm.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: mathematics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
The distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified (colour, pattern of flashes etc.).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: nautical, transport
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: field theory; ring theory; field theory; ring theory
Topics: algebra, mathematics, sciences
Examples
- The characteristic of a field, if non-zero, must be a prime number.
- 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.
- 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.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 6
typical or distinctive
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- heard my friend's characteristic laugh
- red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn
- stripes characteristic of the zebra
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: uncharacteristic
noun
Meaning 7
a distinguishing quality
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: quality
Narrower terms: recommendation, passport, compatibility, incompatibility, point, spot, hallmark, trademark, earmark, stylemark, saving grace, aspect, safeness, dangerousness, curability, curableness, incurability, incurableness, directness, straightness, indirectness, robustness, rurality, ruralism, streak
noun
Meaning 8
any measurable property of a device measured under closely specified conditions
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: device characteristic
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: property
noun
Meaning 9
a prominent attribute or aspect of something
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the map showed roads and other features
- generosity is one of his best characteristics
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: feature
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: property, attribute, dimension
Narrower terms: sex characteristic, sexual characteristic, sex character, invariant, aspect, facet, attraction, attractor, attracter, attractive feature, magnet, badge, centerpiece, centrepiece, contour, excellence, excellency, external, peculiarity, distinctive feature, distinguishing characteristic, safety feature
noun
Meaning 10
the integer part (positive or negative) of the representation of a logarithm; in the expression log 643 = 2.808 the characteristic is 2
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: integer, whole number
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Ancient Greek χαράσσω (kharássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Ancient Greek -τήρ (-tḗr) Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr) Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō) Ancient Greek χαρακτηρίζω (kharaktērízō) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Ancient Greek -τις (-tis) 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.
Across languages
Translations
149 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Armenian: բնորոշ (bnoroš) — being a distinguishing feature
- Asturian: carauterísticu — being a distinguishing feature
- Azerbaijani: səciyyəvi — being a distinguishing feature
- Bashkir: хас (xas) — being a distinguishing feature
- Bulgarian: характерен (harakteren) — being a distinguishing feature
- Bulgarian: отличителен (otličitelen) — being a distinguishing feature
- Catalan: característic — being a distinguishing feature
- Chinese Mandarin: 特性的 (tèxìng de) — being a distinguishing feature
- Chinese Mandarin: 特有的 (tèyǒu de) — being a distinguishing feature
- Czech: charakteristický — being a distinguishing feature
- Danish: karakteristisk — being a distinguishing feature
- Danish: kendetegnende — being a distinguishing feature
- Dutch: kenmerkend — being a distinguishing feature
- Dutch: karakteristiek — being a distinguishing feature
- Dutch: idiosyncratisch — being a distinguishing feature
- Esperanto: karakteriza — being a distinguishing feature
- Finnish: ominainen — being a distinguishing feature
- Finnish: luonteenomainen — being a distinguishing feature
- Finnish: tunnusomainen — being a distinguishing feature
- Finnish: karakteristinen — being a distinguishing feature
- French: caractéristique — being a distinguishing feature
- Galician: característico — being a distinguishing feature
- Georgian: დამახასიათებელი (damaxasiatebeli) — being a distinguishing feature
- German: charakteristisch — being a distinguishing feature
- German: bezeichnend — being a distinguishing feature
- German: kennzeichnend — being a distinguishing feature
- German: typisch — being a distinguishing feature
- Greek: χαρακτηριστικός (charaktiristikós) — being a distinguishing feature
- Greek: τυπικός (typikós) — being a distinguishing feature
- Hungarian: jellegzetes — being a distinguishing feature
- Hungarian: jellemző — being a distinguishing feature
- Ido: karakteriziva — being a distinguishing feature
- Ido: distingiva — being a distinguishing feature
- Interlingua: characteristic — being a distinguishing feature
- Irish: sainiúil — being a distinguishing feature
- Italian: caratteristico — being a distinguishing feature
- Northern Kurdish: taybetmendî — being a distinguishing feature
- Latvian: raksturīgs — being a distinguishing feature
- Māori: tūāhua — being a distinguishing feature
- Norman: caractéthistique — being a distinguishing feature
- Norwegian: karakteristisk — being a distinguishing feature
- Polish: charakterystyczny — being a distinguishing feature
- Portuguese: característico — being a distinguishing feature
- Portuguese: caraterístico — being a distinguishing feature
- Romanian: caracteristic — being a distinguishing feature
- Russian: характе́рный (xaraktérnyj) — being a distinguishing feature
- Russian: типи́чный (tipíčnyj) — being a distinguishing feature
- Russian: отличи́тельный (otličítelʹnyj) — being a distinguishing feature
- Serbo-Croatian: osobina — being a distinguishing feature
- Serbo-Croatian: značajka — being a distinguishing feature
- Slovak: charakteristický — being a distinguishing feature
- Spanish: característico — being a distinguishing feature
- Swedish: karakteristisk — being a distinguishing feature
- Swedish: kännetecknande — being a distinguishing feature
- Tagalog: katangian — being a distinguishing feature
- Thai: คุณลักษณะ (kun-ná-lák-sà-nà) — being a distinguishing feature
- Thai: ลักษณะ (lák-sà-nà) — being a distinguishing feature
- Ukrainian: характе́рний (xaraktérnyj) — being a distinguishing feature
- Ukrainian: типо́вий (typóvyj) — being a distinguishing feature
- Ukrainian: притама́нний (prytamánnyj) — being a distinguishing feature
- Albanian: karakteristikë — distinguishing feature
- Arabic: صِفَة (ṣifa) — distinguishing feature
- Armenian: բնորոշ գիծ (bnoroš gic) — distinguishing feature
- Asturian: carauterística — distinguishing feature
- Azerbaijani: xüsusiyyət — distinguishing feature
- Azerbaijani: özəllik — distinguishing feature
- Basque: ezaugarri — distinguishing feature
- Bengali: বৈশিষ্ট্য (bōiśiśṭṭo) — distinguishing feature
- Bulgarian: отличителна черта (otličitelna čerta) — distinguishing feature
- Catalan: característica — distinguishing feature
- Chinese Mandarin: 特性 (tèxìng) — distinguishing feature
- Chinese Mandarin: 特質 /特质 (tèzhì) — distinguishing feature
- Czech: charakteristika — distinguishing feature
- Czech: vlastnost — distinguishing feature
- Danish: karakteristik — distinguishing feature
- Dutch: trekje — distinguishing feature
- Dutch: karakteristiek — distinguishing feature
- Dutch: kenmerk — distinguishing feature
- Esperanto: karakterizilo — distinguishing feature
- Extremaduran: caraiterística — distinguishing feature
- Finnish: tuntomerkki — distinguishing feature
- Finnish: erityispiirre — distinguishing feature
- Finnish: tunnusmerkki — distinguishing feature
- French: caractéristique — distinguishing feature
- Galician: característica — distinguishing feature
- German: Merkmal — distinguishing feature
- German: Eigenschaft — distinguishing feature
- German: Charakteristik — distinguishing feature
- German: Eigenart — distinguishing feature
- German: in grammar — distinguishing feature
- German: Charakterbuchstabe — distinguishing feature
- Greek: χαρακτηριστικό (charaktiristikó) — distinguishing feature
- Hebrew: סממן (sam'mán) — distinguishing feature
- Hungarian: jellemző — distinguishing feature
- Ido: karakterizivo — distinguishing feature
- Ido: traito — distinguishing feature
- Ido: proprajo — distinguishing feature
- Indonesian: karakteristik — distinguishing feature
- Indonesian: karekteristik — distinguishing feature
- Ingrian: tunnusmerkki — distinguishing feature
- Ingrian: tuntomerkki — distinguishing feature
- Irish: aitreabúid — distinguishing feature
- Italian: caratteristica — distinguishing feature
- Japanese: 特性 (tokusei) — distinguishing feature
- Japanese: 特徴 (tokuchō) — distinguishing feature
- Korean: 특성 (teukseong) — distinguishing feature
- Korean: 특징 (teukjing) — distinguishing feature
- Lithuanian: bruožas — distinguishing feature
- Lithuanian: savybė — distinguishing feature
- Luganda: embaala — distinguishing feature
- Macedonian: одлика (odlika) — distinguishing feature
- Norwegian Bokmål: særtrekk — distinguishing feature
- Norwegian Nynorsk: særtrekk — distinguishing feature
- Plautdietsch: Ieejenschoft — distinguishing feature
- Polish: cecha — distinguishing feature
- Portuguese: característica — distinguishing feature
- Portuguese: caraterística — distinguishing feature
- Romanian: caracteristică — distinguishing feature
- Russian: характе́рная черта́ (xaraktérnaja čertá) — distinguishing feature
- Russian: отличи́тельная черта́ (otličítelʹnaja čertá) — distinguishing feature
- Russian: черта́ (čertá) — distinguishing feature
- Russian: осо́бенность (osóbennostʹ) — distinguishing feature
- Slovak: charakteristika — distinguishing feature
- Slovene: značilnost — distinguishing feature
- Spanish: característica — distinguishing feature
- Swedish: karakteristikum — distinguishing feature
- Swedish: karakteristik — distinguishing feature
- Tagalog: katangian — distinguishing feature
- Ukrainian: озна́ка (oznáka) — distinguishing feature
- Ukrainian: характе́рна ри́са (xaraktérna rýsa) — distinguishing feature
- Ukrainian: особли́вість (osoblývistʹ) — distinguishing feature
- Vietnamese: đặc điểm — distinguishing feature
- Catalan: característica — integer part of a logarithm
- Finnish: karakteristika — integer part of a logarithm
- Galician: característica — integer part of a logarithm
- German: Kennwert — integer part of a logarithm
- German: Kenngröße — integer part of a logarithm
- German: Charakteristik — integer part of a logarithm
- Ido: karakteristiko — integer part of a logarithm
- Latvian: raksturojums — integer part of a logarithm
- Portuguese: característica — integer part of a logarithm
- Portuguese: caraterística — integer part of a logarithm
- Russian: характери́стика (xarakterístika) — integer part of a logarithm
- Tagalog: buumbahagi — integer part of a logarithm
- Ukrainian: характери́стика (xarakterýstyka) — integer part of a logarithm
- German: Merkmal — distinguishing features of a navigational light
- German: Eigenschaft — distinguishing features of a navigational light
- German: Charakteristik — distinguishing features of a navigational light
- German: Eigenart — distinguishing features of a navigational light
Real reading context