characteristic

American  

[kar-ik-tuh-ris-tik] / ˌkær ɪk təˈrɪs tɪk /

adjective

1. Also characteristical. pertaining to, constituting, or indicating the character or peculiar quality of a person or thing; typical; distinctive.

   Red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn.

   Synonyms:

   peculiar, special

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noun

1. a distinguishing feature or quality.

   Generosity is his chief characteristic.

   Synonyms:

   trait, property, attribute

2. Mathematics.

   1. the integral part of a common logarithm.

   2. the exponent of 10 in a number expressed in scientific notation.

   3. the smallest positive integer n such that each element of a given ring added to itself n times results in 0.

characteristic British  

/ ˌkærɪktəˈrɪstɪk /

noun

1. a distinguishing quality, attribute, or trait

2. maths

   1. the integral part of a common logarithm, indicating the order of magnitude of the associated number Compare mantissa

      the characteristic of 2.4771 is 2

   2. another name for exponent, used esp in number representation in computing

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adjective

1. indicative of a distinctive quality, etc; typical

characteristic Scientific  

/ kăr′ək-tə-rĭs′tĭk /

1. The part of a logarithm to the base 10 that is to the left of the decimal point. For example, if 2.749 is a logarithm, 2 is the characteristic.

2. Compare mantissa

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Related Words

See feature.

Other Word Forms

• characteristically adverb
• noncharacteristic adjective
• noncharacteristically adverb
• quasi-characteristic adjective
• quasi-characteristically adverb
• uncharacteristic adjective
• uncharacteristically adverb

Etymology

Origin of characteristic

First recorded in 1655–65; from Greek charaktēristikós ( character, -istic )

Example Sentences

Since the tobacco industry started the trade, sports cards have endured changes through generations, each defined by specific characteristics.

From Los Angeles Times

The director has reunited with Mr. Waits and Mr. Driver for the first and best part of his characteristic new film, the triptych “Father Mother Sister Brother.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Then they examined a dozen characteristics and used a machine-learning algorithm to help pinpoint moments of significant change in the data.

From The Wall Street Journal

He thinks the krona’s strength is attributable to the debasement trade as historically it’s been a volatile currency, bereft of safe-haven characteristics.

From MarketWatch

The timing, location, and characteristics of the signals pointed to small, brittle events that happen seasonally as water freezes and thaws inside cracks in the rock.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• aspect
• attribute
• component
• essence
• flavor
• nature
• peculiarity
• personality
• quality
• style
• symptom
• temperament
• tendency
• tone
• virtue