character

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.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkæɹɪktə/
• (General American)
  • (Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA^(key): /ˈkæɹ(ə)ktɚ/
  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛɹ(ə)ktɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: char‧ac‧ter

character (countable and uncountable, plural characters)

1. (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.

2. (countable) A distinguishing feature; characteristic; trait; phene.

   A single locus governing the petal colour character was detected on the linkage group A2.

3. (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.

   • 1856, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic. A History. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:

     A man of […] thoroughly subservient character

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter III, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.

4. (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.

5. (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.

6. (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[ewcomb] for J[ohn] Martyn printer to the R[oyal] 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.

7. (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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     You know the character to be your brother's?

8. (countable, dated) A secret cipher; a way of writing in code.
9. (countable, computing) One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character.
10. (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.

11. (countable, mathematics) A complex number representing an element of a finite Abelian group.
12. (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

13. (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.

14. (countable, dated) A reference given to a servant, attesting to their behaviour, competence, etc.
15. (countable, obsolete) Personal appearance.

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.

Pages starting with “character”.

• → Scottish Gaelic: caractar

character (third-person singular simple present characters, present participle charactering, simple past and past participle charactered)

1. (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[ward] 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.

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From the Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kʰaˈrak.teːr/, [kʰäˈräkt̪eːr] or IPA^(key): /kʰaˈrak.ter/, [kʰäˈräkt̪ɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kaˈrak.ter/, [käˈräkt̪er]

charactē̆r m (genitive charactēris); third declension

1. branding iron
2. brand (made by a branding iron)
3. characteristic, mark, character, style

   Synonyms: ingenium, nātūra, habitus, mēns, indolēs

Third-declension noun.

• Asturian: caráuter
• Hungarian: karakter
• Galician: caritel; → carácter
• → Old Irish: carachtar, caractar, cáractar, cárachtar
  • Irish: carachtar
• Italian: carattere
• → Old Czech: charakter (learned)
  • Czech: charakter
• Old French: caractere
  • → English: character
    • → Scottish Gaelic: caractar
  • French: caractère
• → Old Slovak: charakter (learned)
  • Slovak: charakter
• → Polish: charakter, harakter, karakter (learned)
  • → Kashubian: charakter
  • → Russian: хара́ктер (xarákter)
  • → Silesian: karakter (through Middle Polish "karakter")
• Portuguese: caractere, carácter
• Romanian: caracter
• Sicilian: caràttiri
• Spanish: carácter

• “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 (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016

character m (plural characteres)

1. Pre-reform spelling (until Brazil 1943/Portugal 1911) of caráter.