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character. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
character, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
character in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English caracter, from Old French caractere, from Latin character, from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “type, nature, character”), from χαράσσω (kharássō, “I engrave”). Doublet of charakter.
Pronunciation
Noun
character (countable and uncountable, plural characters)
- (countable) A being involved in the action of a story.
1695, John Dryden, A Parallel of Poetry and Painting:[I]n a tragedy, or epick poem, the hero of the piece must be advanced foremost to the view of the reader or spectator; he must outshine the rest of all the characters; he must appear the prince of them, like the sun in the Copernican system, encompassed with the less noble planets …
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:The stories did not seem to me to touch life. […] They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.
2012 April 26, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits”, in The Onion AV Club:But Pirates! comes with all the usual Aardman strengths intact, particularly the sense that its characters and creators alike are too good-hearted and sweet to nitpick. The ambition is all in the craft rather than in the storytelling, but it’s hard to say no to the proficiency of that craft, or the mild good cheer behind it.
- (countable) A distinguishing feature; characteristic; trait; phene.
A single locus governing the petal colour character was detected on the linkage group A2.
- (uncountable, countable) 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.
- (uncountable) 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."
2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:Shepard: Are you attracted to other species?
Kelly: Well, part of my job is predicting the motives and feelings of humans and aliens. Intimacy brings understanding.
Kelly: And passion is nice wherever you find it. Character matters, not race or gender.
- (countable) 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.
- (countable) A written or printed symbol, or letter.
1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech: An Essay of Inquiry into the Natural Production of Letters: , London: T. N for J Martyn printer to the R Society, , →OCLC: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.
- (countable, dated) Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the particular form of letters used by a person or people.
an inscription in the Runic character
c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:You know the character to be your brother's?
- (countable, dated) A secret cipher; a way of writing in code.
- (countable, computing) One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character.
- (countable, informal) 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.
- (countable, mathematics) A complex number representing an element of a finite Abelian group.
- (countable) 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
- (countable, dated) 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.
1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC:This subterraneous passage is much mended since Seneca gave so bad a character of it.
- (countable, dated) A reference given to a servant, attesting to their behaviour, competence, etc.
- (countable, obsolete) Personal appearance.
Usage notes
Character is sometimes used interchangeably with reputation, but the two words have different meanings; character describes the distinctive qualities of an individual or group while reputation describes the opinions held by others regarding an individual or group. Character is internal and authentic, while reputation is external and perceived.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Pages starting with “character”.
Descendants
Translations
being in a story
- Arabic: شَخْصِيَّة (ar) f (šaḵṣiyya)
- Egyptian Arabic: شخصية f (šaḵṣeya), كراكتر m (karaktar)
- Armenian: գործող անձ (hy) (gorcoġ anj), կերպար (hy) (kerpar)
- Asturian: personaxe m
- Azerbaijani: personaj, qəhrəman (az)
- Belarusian: персана́ж m (pjersanáž), геро́й m (hjerój), гераі́ня f (hjeraínja), дзе́ючая асо́ба f (dzjéjučaja asóba)
- Bulgarian: геро́й (bg) m (gerój), де́йстващо лице́ n (déjstvašto licé), персона́ж m (personáž)
- Catalan: personatge (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 人物 (zh) (rénwù), 角色 (zh) (juésè, jiǎosè)
- Czech: postava (cs) f
- Danish: figur, rolle, person (da), personage c
- Dutch: personage (nl) n
- Esperanto: rolulo, persono (eo)
- Estonian: karakter, tegelane
- Finnish: hahmo (fi), henkilöhahmo, henkilö (fi)
- French: personnage (fr) m
- Galician: personaxe (gl) m or f
- Georgian: გმირი (ka) (gmiri), პერსონაჟი (ṗersonaži)
- German: Figur (de) f, Person (de) f
- Greek: χαρακτήρας (el) m (charaktíras)
- Hebrew: דְּמוּת (he) f (dmut)
- Hindi: पात्र (hi) m (pātr), किरदार m (kirdār), पात्री (hi) f (pātrī)
- Hungarian: szereplő (hu), alak (hu)
- Icelandic: persóna (is)
- Indonesian: tokoh (id)
- Irish: pearsa f, carachtar m
- Italian: personaggio (it) m
- Japanese: 登場人物 (ja) (とうじょうじんぶつ, tōjōjinbutsu), キャラクター (ja) (kyarakutā)
- Kazakh: кейіпкер (keiıpker)
- Korean: 등장인물(登場人物) (ko) (deungjang'inmul), 캐릭터 (ko) (kaerikteo)
- Latgalian: īvaigs
- Latvian: tēls
- Lithuanian: veikėjas m, veikėja f
- Macedonian: лик m (lik)
- Malay: tokoh
- Malayalam: കഥാപാത്രം (ml) (kathāpātraṁ)
- Maori: kiripuaki
- Norwegian: karakter (no)
- Old English: hād m
- Persian: شخصیت (fa) (šaxsiyat), پرسوناژ (fa) (personâž), کاراکتر (fa) (kârâkter)
- Polish: postać (pl) f
- Portuguese: personagem (pt) m or f
- Romanian: personaj (ro) n
- Russian: персона́ж (ru) m (personáž), геро́й (ru) m (gerój), герои́ня (ru) f (geroínja), де́йствующее лицо́ n (déjstvujuščeje licó)
- Scots: chairacter
- Scottish Gaelic: caractar m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Roman: karakter (sh) m, lik (sh) m
- Slovak: postava f
- Spanish: personaje (es) m
- Swedish: rollfigur (sv) c, karaktär (sv) c
- Tajik: шахсият (šaxsiyat)
- Tamil: பாத்திரம் (ta) (pāttiram)
- Thai: ตัวละคร (th) (dtuua-lá-kɔɔn)
- Turkish: karakter (tr), kişilik (tr), ıra (tr)
- Ukrainian: персона́ж (uk) m (personáž), геро́й (uk) m (herój), герої́ня f (herojínja), дійова́ осо́ба f (dijová osóba)
- Uzbek: personaj (uz), qahramon (uz)
- Vietnamese: nhân vật (vi)
- Walloon: persounaedje (wa) m
- Welsh: cymeriad (cy)
- Yiddish: פּערסאָנאַזש m (personazh)
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distinguishing feature
- Armenian: բնութագիր (hy) (bnutʿagir)
- Azerbaijani: xüsusiyyət (az), özəllik
- Bengali: বৈশিষ্ট্য (bn) (bōiśiśṭṭo)
- Bulgarian: отличи́телна черта́ f (otličítelna čertá)
- Catalan: caràcter (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 特性 (zh) (tèxìng)
- Czech: znak (cs) m
- Danish: karakter (da), træk (da), natur (da)
- Dutch: karakter (nl) n, persoonlijkheid (nl) f
- Esperanto: karaktero (eo)
- Finnish: luonne (fi)
- French: caractère (fr) m
- Galician: carácter (gl) m
- German: Charakter (de) m
- Greek: χαρακτήρας (el) m (charaktíras)
- Ancient: χαρακτήρ m (kharaktḗr)
- Hebrew: מאפיין \ מְאַפְיֵן m (me`afyén), תְּכוּנָה (he) f (tkhuná)
- Indonesian: karakter (id), ciri-ciri
- Irish: carachtar m, nádúr m
- Italian: carattere (it) m, caratteristica (it) m
- Japanese: 特質 (ja) (とくしつ, tokushitsu)
- Korean: 특질(特質) (ko) (teukjil)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: باتەک (batek)
- Latvian: raksturs m
- Luxembourgish: Charakter m
- Maori: āhua (mi), pūtohu
- Persian: شخصیت (fa) (šaxsiyat), کاراکتر (fa) (kârâkter)
- Polish: charakter (pl) m
- Portuguese: caráter (pt) m (Brazil), carácter (pt) m (Portugal)
- Romanian: caracter (ro) n
- Russian: хара́ктер (ru) m (xarákter), отличи́тельная черта́ f (otličítelʹnaja čertá)
- Scottish Gaelic: nàdar m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Roman: osobina (sh), karakteristika (sh) f
- Spanish: característica (es) f, carácter (es) m
- Swedish: karaktär (sv) c
- Turkish: hususiyet (tr) (dated), özellik (tr)
- Vietnamese: đặc điểm (vi)
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complex of mental and ethical traits marking a person or a group
- Armenian: խառնվածք (hy) (xaṙnvackʿ), բնավորություն (hy) (bnavorutʿyun)
- Azerbaijani: qılıq, xasiyyət (az)
- Belarusian: хара́ктар (be) m (xaráktar), но́раў m (nóraŭ)
- Bengali: চরিত্র (bn) (coritro)
- Catalan: tarannà (ca), caràcter (ca)
- Finnish: luonteenpiirteet
- Greek:
- Ancient: ἦθος n (êthos)
- Hebrew: אופי \ אֹפִי (he) m (ófi)
- Hindi: स्वभाव (hi) m (svabhāv)
- Irish: teacht aniar, spiorad (ga) m, spreacadh m
- Japanese: 性格 (ja) (せいかく, seikaku)
- Korean: 성격(性格) (ko) (seonggyeok)
- Kyrgyz: мүнөз (münöz)
- Latvian: raksturs m
- Lithuanian: bū̃das (lt) m, charãkteris m
- Macedonian: карактер m (karakter)
- Maori: āhua (mi)
- Polish: charakter (pl) m, usposobienie (pl) n
- Russian: хара́ктер (ru) (xarákter), нрав (ru) (nrav)
- Tagalog: sangkatangian
- Tamil: குணம் (ta) (kuṇam)
- Ukrainian: хара́ктер (uk) m (xarákter), вда́ча (uk) f (vdáča), но́ров m (nórov)
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moral strength
- Arabic: خُلْق (ar) m (ḵulq)
- Armenian: կամք (hy) (kamkʿ), ուժեղ կամք (užeġ kamkʿ), հաստատակամություն (hy) (hastatakamutʿyun)
- Azerbaijani: qılıq
- Belarusian: хара́ктар (be) m (xaráktar)
- Bulgarian: хара́ктер (bg) m (harákter)
- Catalan: caràcter (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 品質/品质 (zh) (pǐnzhí)
- Danish: karakter (da), fasthed, viljestyrke (da)
- Dutch: karakter (nl) n
- Finnish: luonne (fi), luonteenlujuus
- French: caractère (fr)
- German: Charakter (de) m
- Greek: χαρακτήρας (el) m (charaktíras)
- Hebrew: אופי (he) m (ófi)
- Indonesian: watak (id)
- Italian: carattere (it) m
- Japanese: 資質 (ja) (ししつ, shishitsu)
- Korean: 자질(資質) (ko) (jajil)
- Luhya: esifa
- Persian: منش (fa) (maneš), سیرت (fa) (sirat)
- Polish: charakter (pl) m
- Portuguese: fortaleza moral f, caráter (pt) m (Brazil), carácter (pt) m (Portugal)
- Russian: хара́ктер (ru) m (xarákter)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Roman: karakter (sh) m
- Spanish: carácter (es) m
- Swahili: sifa (sw)
- Swedish: karaktär (sv) c
- Turkish: ahlak (tr), karakter (tr)
- Ukrainian: хара́ктер (uk) m (xarákter)
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notable or eccentric person
symbol or letter
- Arabic: حَرْف (ar) m (ḥarf), رَمْز (ar) m (ramz)
- Egyptian Arabic: حرف m (ḥarf), رمز m (ramz)
- Armenian: նշան (hy) (nšan)
- Asturian: caráuter m
- Belarusian: лі́тара f (lítara), знак (be) m (znak)
- Bengali: অক্ষর (bn) (okkhor), হরফ (bn) (horoph)
- Bulgarian: знак (bg) m (znak), си́мвол (bg) m (símvol)
- Burmese: အက္ခရာ (my) (akhka.ra)
- Catalan: caràcter (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 符號/符号 (zh) (fúhào), 字 (zh) (zì)
- Czech: znak (cs) m
- Danish: tegn (da) n
- Dutch: teken (nl) n, karakter (nl) n
- Esperanto: signo (eo)
- Finnish: kirjain (fi), merkki (fi), kirjoitusmerkki (fi)
- French: caractère (fr) m
- Galician: carácter (gl) m
- German: Buchstabe (de) m, Zeichen (de) n, Schriftzeichen (de) n
- Greek: χαρακτήρας (el) m (charaktíras), γράμμα (el) n (grámma)
- Ancient: χαρακτήρ m (kharaktḗr)
- Gujarati: અંધારું (andhārũ)
- Hebrew: אוֹת (he) f (ot), תָּו (he) m (tav)
- Hindi: अक्षर (hi) m (akṣar)
- Hungarian: karakter (hu)
- Irish: carachtar m, litir (ga) f
- Italian: carattere (it) m
- Japanese: 記号 (ja) (きごう, kigō), 文字 (ja) (もじ, moji)
- Kannada: ಅಕ್ಷರ (kn) (akṣara)
- Korean: 문자(文字) (ko) (munja), 기호(記號) (ko) (giho), 글씨 (ko) (geulssi), 글자 (ko) (geulja)
- Lao: ອັກສອນ (ʼak sǭn)
- Macedonian: знак m (znak)
- Malay: aksara (ms)
- Maori: pūāhua
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: tegn (no) n
- Nynorsk: teikn n
- Old English: bocstæf m
- Persian: حرف (fa) (harf), نویسه (fa) (nevisa)
- Polish: znak (pl) m
- Portuguese: caractere (pt) m
- Russian: бу́ква (ru) f (búkva), си́мвол (ru) m (símvol), знак (ru) m (znak), иеро́глиф (ru) m (ijeróglif) (Chinese)
- Sanskrit: अक्षर (sa) n (akṣara)
- Scottish Gaelic: litir f
- Spanish: carácter (es) m
- Swedish: tecken (sv) n
- Tajik: ҳарф (tg) (harf)
- Tamil: எழுத்து (ta) (eḻuttu)
- Telugu: అక్షరము (te) (akṣaramu)
- Thai: อักษร (th) (àk-sɔ̌ɔn)
- Turkish: harf (tr), sembol (tr), simge (tr)
- Ukrainian: лі́тера (uk) f (lítera), знак m (znak)
- Vietnamese: chữ (vi), kí tự (vi)
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(computing) basic element in a text string
(mathematics) complex number
Translations to be checked
Verb
character (third-person singular simple present characters, present participle charactering, simple past and past participle charactered)
- (obsolete) To write (using characters); to describe.
c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]: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.
See also
Latin
Etymology
From the Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr).
Pronunciation
Noun
charactē̆r m (genitive charactēris); third declension
- branding iron
- brand (made by a branding iron)
- characteristic, mark, character, style
- Synonyms: ingenium, nātūra, habitus, mēns, indolēs
Declension
Third-declension noun.
Descendants
References
- “character”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- character in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- character in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
Portuguese
Noun
character m (plural characteres)
- Pre-reform spelling (until Brazil 1943/Portugal 1911) of caráter.