Definition of characteristic Characteristic

/kɛˌɹʌktɚɪˈstɪk/ - [kerukteristik] - char•ac•ter•is•tic

We found 16 definitions of characteristic from 5 different sources.

What does characteristic mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: characteristics
characteristic - a distinguishing quality
		quality an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; "the quality of mercy is not strained"--Shakespeare
		nature the complex of emotional and intellectual attributes that determine a person's characteristic actions and reactions; "it is his nature to help others"
		passport, recommendation a document issued by a country to a citizen allowing that person to travel abroad and re-enter the home country
		compatibility capability of existing or performing in harmonious or congenial combination
		incompatibility the quality of being unable to exist or work in congenial combination
		spot, point a business establishment for entertainment; "night spot"
		point sharp end; "he stuck the point of the knife into a tree"; "he broke the point of his pencil"
		stylemark, earmark, hallmark, trademark identification mark on the ear of a domestic animal
		saving grace a redeeming quality or characteristic; "her love of music remains her one saving grace"; "her sense of humor has to be a saving grace"; "the saving grace for both developments is that they are creating jobs"
		aspect a characteristic to be considered
		safeness the quality of being safe
		dangerousness the quality of not being safe
		curability, curableness capability of being cured or healed
		incurableness, incurability incapability of being altered in disposition or habits; "the incurability of his optimism"
		directness, straightness trueness of course toward a goal; "rivaling a hawk in directness of aim"
		indirectness having the characteristic of lacking a true course toward a goal
		robustness the characteristic of being strong enough to withstand intellectual challenge; "the lack of robustness in the findings may be due to the small size of the sample"
		rurality, ruralism a rural characteristic or trait; "a place with the rurality of a turnip field"
characteristic - any measurable property of a device measured under closely specified conditions
		device characteristic
		property any movable articles or objects used on the set of a play or movie; "before every scene he ran down his checklist of props"
characteristic - a prominent attribute or aspect of something; "the map showed roads and other features"; "generosity is one of his best characteristics"
		feature
		attribute, dimension, property an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity
		sex character, sex characteristic, sexual characteristic those characteristics (both anatomical and psychological) that are strongly associated with one sex relative to the other
		invariant a feature (quantity or property or function) that remains unchanged when a particular transformation is applied to it
		facet, aspect a smooth surface (as of a bone or cut gemstone)
		attractive feature, magnet, attracter, attractor, attraction (physics) a device that attracts iron and produces a magnetic field
		badge any feature that is regarded as a sign of status (a particular power or quality or rank); "wearing a tie was regarded as a badge of respectability"
		centerpiece, centrepiece something placed at the center of something else (as on a table)
		contour a feature (or the order or arrangement of features) of anything having a complex structure; "the contours of the melody"; "it defines a major contour of this administration"
		excellence, excellency the quality of excelling; possessing good qualities in high degree
		external outward features; "he enjoyed the solemn externals of religion"
		distinctive feature, distinguishing characteristic, peculiarity a distinguishing trait
Adjective
characteristic - typical or distinctive; "heard my friend's characteristic laugh"; "red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn"; "stripes characteristic of the zebra"
		uncharacteristic distinctive and not typical; "a book uncharacteristic of its author"
		typical conforming to a type; "the typical (or normal) American"; "typical teenage behavior"
		diagnostic, symptomatic characteristic or indicative of a disease; "a diagnostic sign of yellow fever"; "a rash symptomatic of scarlet fever"; "symptomatic of insanity"; "a rise in crime symptomatic of social breakdown"
		distinctive, typical of a feature that helps to distinguish a person or thing; "Jerusalem has a distinctive Middle East flavor"- Curtis Wilkie; "that is typical of you!"

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Wiktionary

characteristic (Noun)
A distinguishable feature of a person or thing.
characteristic (Noun)
The integer part of a logarithm.
characteristic (Noun)
The distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified.
characteristic (Noun)
The minimum number of times that the unit of a field must be added unto itself in order to yield that field's zero, or, if that minimum natural number does not exist, then the integer zero.
characteristic (Adjective)
Being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

characteristic (a.)
Pertaining to, or serving to constitute, the character; showing the character, or distinctive qualities or traits, of a person or thing; peculiar; distinctive.
characteristic (n.)
A distinguishing trait, quality, or property; an element of character; that which characterized.
characteristic (n.)
The integral part (whether positive or negative) of a logarithm.