characterize

[ kar-ik-tuh-rahyz ]

/ ˈkær ɪk təˌraɪz /

verb (used with object), char·ac·ter·ized, char·ac·ter·iz·ing.

to mark or distinguish as a characteristic; be a characteristic of: Rich metaphors characterize his poetry.

to describe the character or individual quality of: He characterized her in a few well-chosen words.

to attribute character to: to characterize him as a coward.

Nearby words

Also especially British, char·ac·ter·ise.

Origin of characterize

1585–95; < Medieval Latin charactērizāre < Greek charaktērízein. See character, -ize

Related forms

char·ac·ter·iz·a·ble, adjectivechar·ac·ter·iz·er, nounmis·char·ac·ter·ize, verb (used with object), mis·char·ac·ter·ized, mis·char·ac·ter·iz·ing.non·char·ac·ter·ized, adjective

re·char·ac·ter·ize, verb (used with object), re·char·ac·ter·ized, re·char·ac·ter·iz·ing.un·char·ac·ter·ized, adjectivewell-char·ac·ter·ized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for characterise

He likes small windows and greatly dislikes the sweeping areas of glass and metal that characterise the work of Richard Rogers.
Imagining Prince Charles as King Makes All of Britain Wish They Could Leave Like Scotland|Clive Irving|September 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
What beast save the goat could characterise Alexander and his reign?
The Lost Ten Tribes, and 1882|Joseph Wild
It would appear that servants had in his day many of the faults which characterise some of them at present.
History of English Humour, Vol. 2 (of 2)|Alfred Guy Kingan L'Estrange
But this kind of indolence respecting what does not immediately concern them seems to characterise the Danes.
Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark|Mary Wollstonecraft

As nothing passed at this supper to characterise the country, I shall here close my letter.
Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark|Mary Wollstonecraft
For consider the facts which characterise the movements of an outer planet such as Mars.
Great Astronomers|R. S. Ball

British Dictionary definitions for characterise

characterize

characterise

/ (ˈkærɪktəˌraɪz) /

verb (tr)

to be a characteristic ofloneliness characterized the place

to distinguish or mark as a characteristic

to describe or portray the character of

Derived Formscharacterizable or characterisable, adjectivecharacterizer or characteriser, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for characterise

characterise

chiefly British English spelling of characterize; for suffix, see -ize. Related: Characterised; characterising.

characterize

1590s, "to engrave, write," back-formation from characterization, or else from Medieval Latin characterizare, from Greek kharakterizein "to designate by a characteristic mark," from kharakter (see character). Meaning "to describe the qualities of" is recorded from 1630s; that of "to be characteristic" is from 1744. Related: Characterized; characterizing.