characteristic
/ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.97 in modern English
23
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
5
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Indicating a distinguishing feature of a person or thing; typical.
noun
The distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified (colour, pattern of flashes etc.).
Example Sentences
- "Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech."
- "“Great men have their surprising peculiarities,” I observed inanely. “[…] How did the great feminist wind up this very characteristic episode?”"
- "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."
- "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."
- "Similarly, the characteristic for .003 is −3, and the characteristic for .0003 is −4."
- "The characteristic of a field, if non-zero, must be a prime number."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: χαρακτηριστικός
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/
- British English: /ˌkæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/