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

Then she saw on the monitor a characteristic “elbow” and realized that what she was seeing was much rarer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

But there's one characteristic that unites nearly all the children: they do not attend school.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 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

With characteristic densities near 10-6 Mpc-3, those objects would contribute substantially less to the observed signal.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

“A characteristic, but not exactly complimentary, congratulation,” returned Laurie, still in an abject attitude, but beaming with satisfaction.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

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

"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

And Monza is of course also home territory for Ferrari, although the long straights of the historic circuit may not suit the characteristics of their car.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Tree shrews were chosen for the experiments because their eyes have anatomical and optical characteristics that are similar to human eyes.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026

The juiciest shorts—the bonds ultimately backed by the mortgages most likely to default—had several characteristics.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

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