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View synonyms for characteristic

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
“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


adjective

  1. indicative of a distinctive quality, etc; typical
“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

characteristic

/ kăr′ək-tə-rĭstĭk /

  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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Derived Forms

  • ˌcharacterˈistically, adverb
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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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of characteristic1

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

See feature.
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Example Sentences

What Mulan doesn’t know is that her greatest strengths are the very characteristics she’s been urged to hide — her intellect, her quick thinking, her ingenuity — and in the end they’re key to saving her country.

From Vox

Links and knots are topological characteristics, in that they don’t change when vortices are stretched, compressed or otherwise deformed.

Sub-6GHz 5G has much better signal characteristics and has a shot of a wide rollout.

The rule is more of the same, allowing shelter staff to judge the physical characteristics of those seeking services to decide who is sufficiently male or sufficiently female.

Because different types of neurons have their characteristic ways of spiking—that is, the “shape” of their spikes are diverse—the chip can also be configured to detect the particular spikes you’re looking for.

She said the defining characteristic of her husband was his sensitivity.

He wears his characteristic white shalwar kameez with a tattered gray waistcoat.

Most have been straightforward cases where the child came in with the characteristic rash.

Any person or group can be prejudiced against another group, for any reason and based on any characteristic.

It's remarkable, too, that during his delivery, Lou showed no significant signs of slurred speech, often so characteristic of ALS.

Fibrinous casts are characteristic of fibrinous bronchitis, but may also be found in diphtheria of the smaller bronchi.

In this case, I suspect, there was co-operant a strongly marked childish characteristic, the love of producing an effect.

A characteristic which distinguished them and which impressed Mrs. Pontellier most forcibly was their entire absence of prudery.

Most characteristic is the presence of Curschmann's spirals, Charcot-Leyden crystals, and eosinophilic leukocytes.

When pneumonia occurs during the course of a chronic bronchitis, the characteristic rusty red sputum may not appear.

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character generatorcharacteristic curve