Dictionary.com

characteristic

[ kar-ik-tuh-ris-tik ]
/ ˌkær ɪk təˈrɪs tɪk /
Save This Word!
See synonyms for: characteristic / characteristics / characteristically on Thesaurus.com
adjective
Also char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal. 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.
noun
a distinguishing feature or quality: Generosity is his chief characteristic.
Mathematics.
  1. the integral part of a common logarithm.Compare mantissa.
  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.
QUIZ
CUDDLE UP! A COZY QUIZ ON FALL WORDS HAS ARRIVED
If autumn is your ideal season, spice up your repertoire of "fall" vocabulary with this quiz on some warm and vivid descriptive words for the season.
Question 1 of 10
Which of the following words means “to make a crackling sound; crackle”?
crisp
crepitate
fuscous
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT
Meet Grammar CoachWrite or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar helpImprove Your Writing
Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing
Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Origin of characteristic

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

synonym study for characteristic

2. See feature.

OTHER WORDS FROM characteristic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Words related to characteristic

innate, singular, distinctive, unique, peculiar, idiosyncratic, style, essence, tendency, nature, attribute, component, peculiarity, virtue, aspect, temperament, tone, flavor, quality, symptom

How to use characteristic in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for characteristic

characteristic
/ (ˌkærɪktəˈrɪstɪk) /
noun
a distinguishing quality, attribute, or trait
maths
  1. the integral part of a common logarithm, indicating the order of magnitude of the associated numberthe characteristic of 2.4771 is 2 Compare mantissa
  2. another name for exponent, used esp in number representation in computing
adjective
indicative of a distinctive quality, etc; typical

Derived forms of characteristic

characteristically, adverb
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

Medical definitions for characteristic

characteristic
[ kăr′ək-tə-rĭs′tĭk ]
n.
A distinguishing feature or attribute; character.
A structure or function determined by a gene or genes; trait.

Other words from characteristic

char′ac•ter•is′tic adj.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Scientific definitions for characteristic

characteristic
[ kăr′ək-tə-rĭs′tĭk ]
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. Compare mantissa.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
FEEDBACK