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

Princeton's WordNet(3.18 / 17 votes)Rate this definition:

1. feature, characteristic(noun)

   a prominent attribute or aspect of something

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

2. characteristic(noun)

   a distinguishing quality

3. characteristic(noun)

   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 characteristic(adj)

   any measurable property of a device measured under closely specified conditions

5. characteristic(adj)

   typical or distinctive

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

Wiktionary(3.40 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. characteristic(Noun)

   a distinguishable feature of a person or thing

2. characteristic(Noun)

   the integer part of a logarithm

3. characteristic(Noun)

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

4. characteristic(Noun)

   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. characteristic(Adjective)

   being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing

Origin: From χαρακτηριστικός, from χαρακτηρίζω, from χαρακτήρ.

Webster Dictionary(3.00 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Characteristic(adj)

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

2. Characteristic(noun)

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

3. Characteristic(noun)

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

Origin: [Gr. : cf. F. charactristique.]

Freebase(3.60 / 5 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.

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

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

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. Henry David Thoreau:

   It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

2. Austin O'Malley:

   Exclusiveness is a characteristic of recent riches, high society, and the skunk.

3. Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey:

   Philanthropic people lose all sense of Humanity, it is their distinguishing characteristic.

4. Warren Buffett:

   There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.

5. Jennifer Jones:

   If you could choose one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.

Images & Illustrations of characteristic

Popularity rank by frequency of use