characteristic

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characteristic

/ˌkæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/ UK
/ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/ US
[ˌkʰæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk] US
/ˌkɛɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/

Rhymes with -ɪstɪk

Where it comes from

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)

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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.

adjective more characteristic · most characteristic

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.
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?”

noun characteristics

A distinguishing feature of a person or thing, a part of mental or physical behavior.
The integer part of a logarithm. 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.
The distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified (colour, pattern of flashes etc.).
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.

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