character

noun
/ˈkæ.ɹɪk.tə/UK/ˈkæɹ(ə)ktɚ/

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek χαράσσω (kharássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Ancient Greek -τήρ (-tḗr) Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr)der. Latin charactērder. Old French caracterebor. Middle English caracter English character From Middle English caracter, from Old French caractere, from Latin character, from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “type, nature, character”), from χαράσσω (kharássō, “to engrave”). Doublet of charakter.

  1. derived from χαρακτήρ
  2. derived from character
  3. derived from caractere
  4. derived from caracter

Definitions

  1. A being involved in the action of a story

    A being involved in the action of a story; a persona.

  2. A distinguishing feature

    A distinguishing feature; characteristic; trait; nature; phene.

    • A single locus governing the petal colour character was detected on the linkage group A2.
    • We were not able to ascertain the character of the relationship.
  3. A complex of traits marking a person, group, breed, or type.

    • A study of the suspect's character and his cast iron alibi ruled him out.
    • A man of […] thoroughly subservient character
  4. + 13 more definitions
    1. Strength of mind

      Strength of mind; resolution; independence; individuality; moral strength.

      • He has a great deal of character.
      • "You may not like to eat liver," said Calvin's father, "but it builds character."
    2. A unique or extraordinary individual

      A unique or extraordinary individual; a person characterized by peculiar or notable traits, especially charisma.

      • Julius Caesar is a great historical character.
      • That bloke is such a character.
    3. A written or printed symbol, or letter.

      • It were much to be wished that there were throughout the world but one sort of character for each letter to express it to the eye.
    4. Style of writing or printing

      Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the particular form of letters used by a person or people.

      • an inscription in the Runic character
      • You know the character to be your brother's?
    5. A secret cipher

      A secret cipher; a way of writing in code.

    6. One of the basic elements making up a text file or string

      One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character.

      • We'll start at the beginning, with the basic building blocks not just of emoji, nor even digital communication, but of all written language: characters and character sets.
    7. A person or individual, especially one who is unknown.

      • We saw a shady character slinking out of the office with some papers.
      • That old guy is a real character.
    8. An assignment of complex numbers to each element of a group, in particular a finite…

      An assignment of complex numbers to each element of a group, in particular a finite abelian group. More precisely, a group homomorphism into the group of units of a field (usually ℂ).

    9. Quality, position, rank, or capacity

      Quality, position, rank, or capacity; quality or conduct with respect to a certain office or duty.

      • in the miserable character of a slave
      • in his character as a magistrate
    10. The estimate, individual or general, put upon a person or thing

      The estimate, individual or general, put upon a person or thing; reputation.

      • a man's character for truth and veracity
      • Her actions give her a bad character.
      • This subterraneous passage is much mended since Seneca gave so bad a character of it.
    11. A reference given to a servant, attesting to their behaviour, competence, etc.

    12. Personal appearance.

    13. To write (using characters)

      To write (using characters); to describe.

      • O Roſalind, theſe Trees ſhall be my Bookes, / And in their barkes my thoughts Ile charracter, / That euery eye, which in this Forreſt lookes, / Shall ſee thy vertue witneſt euery where.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at character. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01character02marking03colouration04coloration05art06social07extroverted08turned09turn10movement

A definitional loop anchored at character. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at character

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA