characteristic

[ kar-ik-tuh-ris-tik ]

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

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. 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.

characteristic

/ 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

adjective

1. indicative of a distinctive quality, etc; typical

characteristic

/ 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

Derived Forms

• ˌcharacterˈistically, adverb

Other Words From

• char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal·ly adverb
• non·char·ac·ter·is·tic adjective
• non·char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal·ly adverb
• qua·si-char·ac·ter·is·tic adjective
• qua·si-char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal·ly adverb
• un·char·ac·ter·is·tic adjective
• un·char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of characteristic¹

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

Synonym Study

See feature.

Example Sentences

Other defining characteristics include its distinct curvature and the fact that it could move around -- seen by trace fossils in the surrounding area.

From Science Daily

This well-known fringe pattern phenomenon is caused by consistent constructive interference but has different characteristics when radio waves propagate around a neutron star.

From Science Daily

Epigenetics is the part of genetics that's based not on the sequence of genetic building blocks but on small yet characteristic chemical markers on these building blocks.

From Science Daily

The FA acted as gender reassignment is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

From BBC

However, the Stevens group's system takes a different approach: it detects and processes these noise artifacts using an AI that has been carefully trained to interpret their characteristics as valuable data.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• distinctive
• idiosyncratic
• innate
• peculiar
• singular
• unique