Definitions for characteristic
ˌkær ɪk təˈrɪs tɪkchar·ac·ter·is·tic

Princeton's WordNet(3.52 / 21 votes)Rate this definition:

1. feature, characteristicnoun

   a prominent attribute or aspect of something

   "the map showed roads and other features"; "generosity is one of his best characteristics"

2. characteristicnoun

   a distinguishing quality

3. characteristicnoun

   the integer part (positive or negative) of the representation of a logarithm; in the expression log 643 = 2.808 the characteristic is 2

4. characteristic, device characteristicadjective

   any measurable property of a device measured under closely specified conditions

5. characteristicadjective

   typical or distinctive

   "heard my friend's characteristic laugh"; "red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn"; "stripes characteristic of the zebra"

Wiktionary(2.71 / 7 votes)Rate this definition:

1. characteristicnoun

   a distinguishable feature of a person or thing

2. characteristicnoun

   the integer part of a logarithm

3. characteristicnoun

   the distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified (colour, pattern of flashes etc)

4. characteristicnoun

   The minimum number of times that the unit of a field must be added unto itself in order to yield that field's zero, or, if that minimum natural number does not exist, then (the integer) zero.

5. characteristicadjective

   being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing

6. Etymology: From χαρακτηριστικός, from χαρακτηρίζω, from χαρακτήρ.

Webster Dictionary(3.40 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Characteristicadjective

   pertaining to, or serving to constitute, the character; showing the character, or distinctive qualities or traits, of a person or thing; peculiar; distinctive

2. Characteristicnoun

   a distinguishing trait, quality, or property; an element of character; that which characterized

3. Characteristicnoun

   the integral part (whether positive or negative) of a logarithm

4. Etymology: [Gr. : cf. F. charactristique.]

Freebase(3.17 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Characteristic

   In mathematics, the characteristic of a ring R, often denoted char, is defined to be the smallest number of times one must use the ring's multiplicative identity element in a sum to get the additive identity element; the ring is said to have characteristic zero if this repeated sum never reaches the additive identity. That is, char is the smallest positive number n such that if such a number n exists, and 0 otherwise. The characteristic may also be taken to be the exponent of the ring's additive group, that is, the smallest positive n such that for every element a of the ring. Some authors do not include the multiplicative identity element in their requirements for a ring, and this definition is suitable for that convention; otherwise the two definitions are equivalent due to the distributive law in rings.

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. characteristic

   A specific quality.

   The characteristics were so clear, she was so honest.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 4, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Integer
   • Property
   • Quality

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'characteristic' in Nouns Frequency: #904

2. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'characteristic' in Adjectives Frequency: #691

How to pronounce characteristic?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say characteristic in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of characteristic in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of characteristic in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of characteristic in a Sentence

1. Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

   It is the characteristic excellence of the strong man that he can bring momentous issues to the fore and make a decision about them. The weak are always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen themselves.

2. Fiona Hill:

   This has been characteristic of Donald Trump and Putin the times they've met. We still don't know what they discussed in Finland.

3. Chris Stantis:

   The tombs with non-Egyptian burial customs were especially intriguing typically males buried with bronze weaponry in constructed tombs, without scarabs or other protective amulets like Egyptians would have been buried with, the most elite had equids of some sort (potentially donkeys) buried outside the tombs, often in pairs as though ready to pull a chariot. This is both a foreign characteristic of burial style, but also suggestive of someone [with] very high status.

4. Henry David Thoreau:

   It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

5. Ben Rhodes:

   I have been in the room with Vladimir Putin many times when I was working for President Obama. And whataboutism is always a characteristic of these summit meetings, that whataboutism is meant to engender cynicism, that nothing really matters, it's not worth even challenging this, that everybody's just as corrupt as everybody else.

Popularity rank by frequency of use