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

• characteristics
  plural

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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Synonym Usage

See feature.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• characteristics
  plural

Etymology

Origin of characteristic

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

Explanation

If something is a characteristic of someone or something, it is a feature you would expect. A characteristic of classical-style architecture is large stone columns. A characteristic of poodles is their pom-pom like tails. A characteristic feature needn't just be a something physically apparent, it can describe a type of personality or atmosphere as well, as in: "The characteristic of all funeral homes is their gloomy air." As their spelling and meaning implies, there is a close link between the words characteristic and character, meaning the essential nature of a thing, and in fact both words come from the ancient Greek kharackter, meaning a "symbol or imprint on the soul."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

characteristic characteristics

"The smell is like decaying wood being burned – that's the characteristic smell of peat. And that peat contains decomposed wood and organic material from many different sources."

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

The experiment searches for dark matter by watching for characteristic flashes of light created when particles deposit energy inside the detector.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

Although the photographs share the unnerving intensity characteristic of his films, Lynch understood the two disciplines as distinct.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

"Although I haven't gone 12 rounds and I haven't taken one on the chin, I don't think that's a characteristic you need to become a heavyweight champion," he says.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

We had discovered with Mariner 9 that characteristic changes in the bright and dark patterns on the Martian surface occur during times of high winds.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

By examining the magnetic characteristics of volcanic rocks in Colombia's Northern Andes, researchers found evidence that the main phases of collision took place earlier than previously believed, before about 10 million years ago.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026

A senior administration official said that conversations about the spiritual implications, and even the potential supernatural characteristics, of the technology aren’t infrequent among staff working on AI policy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

When the scientists blocked a single receptor on these macrophages, multiple organs in mice retained more youthful characteristics.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026

"The Sea of Marmara is a heavily trafficked and closely monitored area, it has all the characteristics of a maritime highway," maritime engineer Sabri Gokhan told the private NTV broadcaster.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

If the gene was the central currency of biological information, then major characteristics of the living world—not just heredity—should be explicable in terms of genes.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

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