Definition of the word character

Noun

… this makes everyone believe not only that anyone can be a parent, but also that everyone ought to do it, even those who seem by character or inclination to be ill equipped.


—Anna Quindlen, Newsweek, 27 Apr. 2009


Someone with Alzheimer’s may undergo a regression to a «second childhood,» but aspects of one’s essential character, of personality and personhood, of self, survive …


—Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia, (2007) 2008


«Beat» is old carny slang. According to Beat Movement legend (and it is a movement with a deep inventory of legend), Ginsberg and Kerouac picked it up from a character named Herbert Huncke, a gay street hustler and drug addict from Chicago who began hanging around Times Square in 1939 …


—Louis Menand, New Yorker, 1 Oct. 2007


Slowly, steadily, Och and Chris passed along their knowledge of the characterof various courses, and the way a race evolves tactically.


—Lance Armstrong, It’s Not About the Bike, (2000) 2001


Her character struck the Swede back then as a compound in which you’d find just about everything toxic to desperation and dread. At the core of her he could imagine a nucleus of confidence plaited just as neatly and tightly as her braided hair.


—Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997



the unique character of the town



The building is very simple in character.



Their house has a lot of character.

Verb



formerly charactered as “the dark ages,” that period of history may not have been quite so benighted as once thought

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Recent Examples on the Web



Her character is the governor of Connecticut, and running for the United States Senate.


—Olivia Evans, Women’s Health, 6 Apr. 2023




Putting the character into action demanded everything of Adkins, from his skills to his fitness.


—Brett Williams, Men’s Health, 6 Apr. 2023




But while the plot remains a mystery, the characters give us a bit more insight on where the film could go.


—Erica Gonzales, ELLE, 5 Apr. 2023




More crucially, the good times are grounded in real warmth and compassion toward the young characters.


—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Apr. 2023




Das offers a close reading of Roe’s journal and fleshes out the character of the man within the context of the sociopolitical forces that shaped him.


—Balaji Ravichandran, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2023




The discipline had at one point involved children’s music featuring Elmo, the popular Sesame Street character.


—Nolan Clay, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2023




Melanie Martinez is bringing the third and final iteration of her signature character Cry Baby — this time, a pink-skinned, four-eyed fairy-like creature that lives between life and death — with her on tour.


—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 3 Apr. 2023




Zoë Winters, the actor behind Logan Roy’s ambitious assistant and his probable hookup, told Variety that her character’s disastrous audition tape from last night’s episode was inspired by Ingraham and Lahren.


—Vulture, 3 Apr. 2023



For over 25 years, Emmy-award winning directors/producers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine have jointly created multi-character documentary narratives that use the personal stories of their protagonists to paint a larger portrait of the human experience.


—Alissa Simon, Variety, 3 Sep. 2021




The best shows and movies are often character dramas at heart; even Westworld was in its first season.


—Wired, 9 July 2022




The success of the single has been remarkable for a multi-character theatrical piece.


—Paul Grein, Billboard, 24 Mar. 2022




There’s a lot of inter-character conflicts that didn’t make the cut.


—Scott Mendelson, Forbes, 21 May 2021




Character witnesses for Storm include a parade of foster puppies the Freeleys have taken in over the last month.


—Sarah Maslin Nir, New York Times, 18 July 2017



This results in a wine with a wild and brambly character rather than an oaky style.


—Mike Desimone And Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 30 Mar. 2023




From rides, shows and parades to character interactions and dining experiences, fans of all ages can experience their favorite Disney movies in real life.


—Lexie Sachs, Good Housekeeping, 22 Feb. 2023




But to retain its clout and character the liberal order needs restored leadership and difficult reforms.


—The Economist, 18 June 2020




This is a sport whose major victories are accompanied by gauzy paeans to character.


—Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2022




And Lin told the Raptors Show that the curriculum will include everything from shooting hoops to character development and communication.


—Kimmy Yam, NBC News, 16 June 2022




Well, one chief reason: To dramatize the passing of the superhero torch to sisterly character Yelena Belova — a role that Pugh embraced with athletic ferocity and quick comic aplomb.


—Washington Post, 30 Dec. 2021




And without that depth, Spike’s buddy-cop dynamic with his main foil, Jet, does neither character any favors.


—Cecilia D’anastasio, Wired, 19 Nov. 2021




But the brothers hewed to character in their posts, which could not have been more exemplary and different.


—Guy Martin, Forbes, 12 Apr. 2021


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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘character.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Источник

  • Top Definitions
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  • Examples
  • British
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  • Idioms And Phrases

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.

[ kar-ik-ter ]

/ ˈkær ɪk tər /

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.

noun

the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing.

one such feature or trait; characteristic.

moral or ethical quality: a man of fine, honorable character.

qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity: It takes character to face up to a bully.

reputation: a stain on one’s character.

good repute.

an account of the qualities or peculiarities of a person or thing.

a person, especially with reference to behavior or personality: a suspicious character.

Informal. an odd, eccentric, or unusual person.

a person represented in a drama, story, etc.

a part or role, as in a play or film.

a symbol as used in a writing system, as a letter of the alphabet.

the symbols of a writing system collectively.

a significant visual mark or symbol.

status or capacity: the character of a justice of the peace.

a written statement from an employer concerning the qualities of a former employee.

Literature. (especially in 17th- and 18th-century England) a formal character sketch or descriptive analysis of a particular human virtue or vice as represented in a person or type.Compare character sketch.

Genetics. any trait, function, structure, or substance of an organism resulting from the effect of one or more genes as modified by the environment.

Computers.

  1. any symbol, as a number, letter, punctuation mark, etc., that represents data and that, when encoded, is usable by a machine.
  2. one of a set of basic symbols that singly or in a series of two or more represents data and, when encoded, is usable in a computer.

a style of writing or printing.

Roman Catholic Theology. the ineffaceable imprint received on the soul through the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and ordination.

(formerly) a cipher or cipher message.

adjective

Theater.

  1. (of a part or role) representing a personality type, especially by emphasizing distinctive traits, as language, mannerisms, physical makeup, etc.
  2. (of an actor or actress) acting or specializing in such roles.

verb (used with object) Archaic.

to portray; describe.

to engrave; inscribe.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Which sentence is correct?

Idioms about character

    in character,

    1. in harmony with one’s personal character or disposition: Such behavior is not in character for him.
    2. in accordance with the role or personality assumed in a performance: an actor in character.

    out of character,

    1. out of harmony with one’s personal character or disposition: Her remarks were out of character.
    2. away from the role or personality assumed in a performance: The actor stepped out of character.

Origin of character

1275–1325; <Latin <Greek charaktḗr graving tool, its mark, equivalent to charak- (base of charáttein to engrave) + -tēr agent suffix; replacing Middle English caractere<Middle French <Latin, as above

synonym study for character

1. Character, individuality, personality refer to the sum of the characteristics possessed by a person. Character refers especially to moral qualities, ethical standards, principles, and the like: a man of sterling character. Individuality refers to the distinctive qualities that make one recognizable as a person differentiated from others: a woman of strong individuality. Personality refers particularly to the combination of outer and inner characteristics that determine the impression that a person makes upon others: a child of vivid or pleasing personality. 5. See reputation.

OTHER WORDS FROM character

char·ac·ter·less, adjectiveun·char·ac·tered, adjective

Words nearby character

Chapultepec, chaqueta, char, char-à-banc, characin, character, character actor, character armour, character assassination, character code, character dance

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

MORE ABOUT CHARACTER

What does character mean?

A character is a person in a story, as in Princess Leia is my favorite Star Wars character.

A character is someone who appears in a story, whether the story is fiction or nonfiction. It can also be used to refer to a role in a play or film that an actor plays, as in Tony’s character in the play doesn’t have any lines, but he’s still important to the plot.

Character is also the collection of features and traits that make a person’s image and personality, as in Ishir’s character was one of honesty and friendship. If someone seems characterless, they don’t have traits that stand out, although everyone has personality traits.

Character can also refer to a person’s moral or ethical quality. If you are a person of good character, you are trustworthy and reliable.

Related to that, if you have character, you are honest and courageous or have integrity.

Additionally, a character is a specific symbol or image that is used in writing messages. The words you are reading are written in letters, or characters, that make up the Latin alphabet. Punctuation marks and numerals (1, IX) are also characters. They are called symbols as well.

Example: I can’t believe that my favorite character died in the show last night.

Where does character come from?

The first records of the term character come from around the 1270s. It ultimately comes from the Greek charaktḗr, meaning “graving tool or its mark.” A character meaning “mark” can refer to a symbol or a letter.

In acting, the idioms in character and out of character are used to describe whether an actor is speaking as their role (in character) or as themselves (out of character). You can also use these idioms to describe how someone is acting. If your brother usually sleeps until noon, it is in character for him to sleep until noon and out of character to sleep only until 10 am.

Did you know … ?

How is character used in real life?

As a letter or symbol, character almost always references a written work. As a trait, it normally references a specific person.

if you wanna see the true character of person watch the way they treat someone who can’t do anything for them.

— ye (@kanyewest) April 19, 2018

Reading lots of feedback regarding Dragon Age, and I think you’ll be relieved to see what the team is working on. Story & character focused.

Too early to talk details, but when we talk about “live” it just means designing a game for continued storytelling after the main story.

— Casey Hudson (@CaseyDHudson) January 25, 2018

why does creating a password require a capital letter, number, special character, and math problem but someone can just accidentally press the wrong button to send ballistic missle alerts

— manny (@mannyfidel) January 13, 2018

Try using character!

Is character used correctly in the following sentence?

It takes a lot of character to leave your hometown and start all over.

Words related to character

aspect, cast, humor, kind, nature, personality, quality, sense, spirit, style, tone, type, courage, intelligence, name, figure, role, appearance, attribute, badge

How to use character in a sentence

  • When I was offered this, I was extremely pleased because he’s an interesting character.

  • In preparing to play the twisted character, Paulson studied the novel and the film in detail and even borrowed some gestures from the movie.

  • A recent survey from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, for example, found that 38% of characters featured in advertisements at the 2019 Cannes Lions festival were people of color, compared to 26% in 2006, the earliest available data.

  • While for the video titles, we don’t have too many characters to work with, the video description field allows more characters than enough, so take the full advantage of those.

  • Female speaking characters have only marginally increased over the last 13 years, reaching 34% in 2019.

  • Taraji manages to bring an equal measure of truth to the mother in her character.

  • I still do find it a tremendously useful device to invent a character and have the character sing the song.

  • You were basically the guy to do every dictator or crazy character, from Gaddafi and Ahmadinejad to Bin Laden.

  • Our fans have seen all our sketches, so we wanted to give them something a little deeper about each character.

  • Forget those silly “games played with the ball”; they are far “too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind.”

  • I, therefore, deliver it as a maxim, that whoever desires the character of a proud man ought to conceal his vanity.

  • It is the development of character, the triumph of intellectuality and spirituality I have striven to express.’

  • She never realized that the reserve of her own character had much, perhaps everything, to do with this.

  • Messa urges the king to send a new governor, and gives his advice as to the character of him who should be sent.

  • Some peculiar lines between these contracted brows gave a character of ferocity to this forbidding and sensual face.

British Dictionary definitions for character

noun

the combination of traits and qualities distinguishing the individual nature of a person or thing

one such distinguishing quality; characteristic

moral force; integritya man of character

  1. reputation, esp a good reputation
  2. (as modifier)character assassination

a summary or account of a person’s qualities and achievements; testimonialmy last employer gave me a good character

capacity, position, or statushe spoke in the character of a friend rather than a father

a person represented in a play, film, story, etc; role

an outstanding personone of the great characters of the century

informal an odd, eccentric, or unusual personhe’s quite a character

an informal word for person a shady character

a symbol used in a writing system, such as a letter of the alphabet

Also called: sort printing any single letter, numeral, punctuation mark, or symbol cast as a type

computing any letter, numeral, etc, which is a unit of information and can be represented uniquely by a binary pattern

a style of writing or printing

genetics any structure, function, attribute, etc, in an organism, which may or may not be determined by a gene or group of genes

a short prose sketch of a distinctive type of person, usually representing a vice or virtue

in character typical of the apparent character of a person or thing

out of character not typical of the apparent character of a person or thing

verb (tr)

to write, print, inscribe, or engrave

rare to portray or represent

Derived forms of character

characterful, adjectivecharacterless, adjective

Word Origin for character

C14: from Latin: distinguishing mark, from Greek kharaktēr engraver’s tool, from kharassein to engrave, stamp

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

Scientific definitions for character

Genetics A structure, function, or attribute determined by a gene or a group of genes.

Computer Science A symbol, such as a letter, number, or punctuation mark, that occupies one byte of memory. See more at ASCII.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for character

A person in a literary work. For example, Ebenezer Scrooge is a character in A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with character

see in character; out of character.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Источник

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Look up character in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Character or Characters may refer to:
an person, animal, object,
creature.

Arts, entertainment, and media[edit]

  • Character (arts), a fictional being in a narrative

Literature[edit]

  • Character (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
  • Characters (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to Theophrastus

Music[edit]

  • Characters (John Abercrombie album), 1977
  • Character (Dark Tranquillity album), 2005
  • Character (Julia Kent album), 2013
  • Character (Rachael Sage album), 2020
  • Characters (Stevie Wonder album), 1987

Types of entity[edit]

  • Character (arts), an agent within a work of art, including literature, drama, cinema, opera, etc.
  • Character sketch or character, a literary description of a character type
  • Game character (disambiguation), various types of characters in a video game or role playing game
    • Player character, as above but who is controlled or whose actions are directly chosen by a player
    • Non-player character, as above but not player-controlled, frequently abbreviated as NPC

Other uses in arts, entertainment, and media[edit]

  • Character (film), a 1997 Dutch film based on Bordewijk’s novel
  • Charaktery, a monthly magazine in Poland
  • Netflix Presents: The Characters, an improvised sketch comedy show on Netflix

Sciences[edit]

  • Character (biology), the abstraction of an observable physical or biochemical trait of an organism

Mathematics[edit]

  • Character (mathematics), a homomorphism from a group to a field
  • Characterization (mathematics), the logical equivalency between objects of two different domains.
  • Character theory, the mathematical theory of special kinds of characters associated to group representations
  • Dirichlet character, a type of character in number theory
  • Multiplicative character, a homomorphism from a group to the multiplicative subgroup of a field

Morality and social science[edit]

  • Character education, a US term for values education
  • Character structure, a person’s traits
  • Moral character, an evaluation of a particular individual’s durable moral qualities

Symbols[edit]

  • Character (symbol), a sign or symbol
    • Character (computing), a unit of information roughly corresponding to a grapheme

Other uses[edit]

  • Character (income tax), a type of income for tax purposes in the US
  • Sacramental character, a Catholic teaching
  • Neighbourhood character, the look and feel of a built environment

See also[edit]

  • All pages with titles beginning with Character
  • All pages with titles containing Character
  • Virtual character (disambiguation)

Источник

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkæɹəktə/
  • (General American)
    • (Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA(key): /ˈkæɹ(ə)ktɚ/
    • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA(key): /ˈkɛɹ(ə)ktɚ/
  • Hyphenation: char‧ac‧ter

Noun[edit]

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.

  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.

  7. (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.

  8. (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?

  9. (countable, dated) A secret cipher; a way of writing in code.
  10. (countable, computing) One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character.
  11. (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.

  12. (countable, mathematics) A complex number representing an element of a finite Abelian group.
  13. (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

  14. (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.

    • This subterraneous passage is much mended since Seneca gave so bad a character of it.
  15. (countable, dated) A reference given to a servant, attesting to their behaviour, competence, etc.
  16. (countable, obsolete) Personal appearance.

Usage notes[edit]

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[edit]

  • bell character
  • cartoon character
  • Chinese character
  • control character
  • delete character
  • dominant character
  • escape character
  • null character
  • player character
  • round character
  • staple character
  • stock character

Derived terms[edit]

  • ASA character
  • base character
  • big-character poster
  • box-drawing character
  • break character
  • breakout character
  • build character
  • carriage control character
  • character actor
  • character actress
  • character amnesia
  • character assassination
  • character cell
  • character class
  • character density
  • character disorder
  • character encoding
  • character generator
  • character man
  • character map
  • character part
  • character recognition
  • character reference
  • character set
  • character shoe
  • character study
  • character theory
  • character trait
  • character user interface
  • character witness
  • character-based
  • character-building
  • character-forming
  • characterisation / characterization
  • characterise / characterize
  • characteristic
  • characterless
  • Chinese character
  • combining character
  • Dirichlet character
  • ghost character
  • Han character
  • in character
  • lead character
  • main character syndrome
  • non-player character
  • non-printable character
  • optical character recognition
  • original character
  • out of character
  • out-of-character
  • private-use character
  • special character
  • supplementary character
  • title character

Pages starting with “character”.

Translations[edit]

being in a story

  • Arabic: شَخْصِيَّة‎ (ar) f (šaḵṣiyya)
    Egyptian Arabic: شخصية‎ f (šaḵṣeya), كراكتر‎ m (karaktar)
  • Armenian: գործող անձ (hy) (gorcoł 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 m or f
  • Georgian: გმირი (gmiri)
  • German: Figur (de) f, Person (de) f
  • Greek: χαρακτήρας (el) m (charaktíras)
  • Hebrew: דְּמוּת‎ (he) f (dmut)
  • Hindi: पात्र (hi) m (pātr)
  • 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 (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 (ms)
  • Malayalam: കഥാപാത്രം (ml) (kathāpātraṃ)
  • 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)
  • Ukrainian: персона́ж (uk) m (personáž), геро́й 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)

distinguishing feature

  • Armenian: բնութագիր (hy) (bnutʿagir)
  • Azerbaijani: xüsusiyyət (az), özəllik
  • Bulgarian: отличи́тельна черта́ f (otličítelʹna 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 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 (ckb) (batek)
  • Latvian: raksturs m
  • Luxembourgish: Charakter m
  • Maori: āhua (mi)
  • 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)

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)
  • 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)

moral strength

  • Arabic: خُلْق‎ (ar) m (ḵulq)
  • Armenian: կամք (hy) (kamkʿ), ուժեղ կամք (užeł 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)

notable or eccentric person

  • Armenian: տիպ (hy) (tip)
  • Catalan: personatge (ca) m
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 怪人 (zh) (guàirén) (strange person), 人物 (zh) (rénwù)
  • Danish: personlighed
  • Dutch: persoonlijkheid (nl) f
  • Finnish: persoona (fi), persoonallisuus (fi), tyyppi (fi)
  • French: personnage (fr) m
  • German: Original (de) n
  • Greek: χαρακτήρας (el) m (charaktíras)
  • Hebrew: אִישִׁיּוּת‎ (he) f (ishiyút), טִיפּוּס‎ (he) m (típus)
  • Italian: personaggio (it) m
  • Maori: korokē
  • Portuguese: figura (pt) f, peça (pt) f
  • Russian: ли́чность (ru) f (líčnostʹ) (person), персона́ж (ru) m (personáž)
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Roman: lik (sh) m
  • Spanish: personaje (es) m
  • Swedish: figur (sv) c
  • Turkish: orijinal kimse
  • Walloon: persounaedje (wa) m

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: হরফ (bn) (hôrôf)
  • 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 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)

(computing) basic element in a text string

  • Albanian: karakter (sq), germë (sq)
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 符號／符号 (zh) (fúhào)
  • Czech: znak (cs) m
  • Danish: tegn (da)
  • Dutch: karakter (nl) n
  • Esperanto: signo (eo)
  • Finnish: merkki (fi)
  • French: caractère (fr) m
  • German: Character (de), Zeichen (de) n
  • Greek: χαρακτήρας (el) m (charaktíras)
  • Hebrew: תָּו‎ (he) m (tav)
  • Hungarian: betű (hu), karakter (hu), leütés (hu), betűhely (hu), n (hu)
  • Irish: carachtar m
  • Italian: carattere (it) m
  • Japanese: 記号 (ja) (きごう, kigō)
  • Kazakh: таңба (tañba)
  • Korean: 기호(記號) (ko) (giho)
  • Maori: pūāhua
  • Persian: نویسه‎ (fa) (nevisa)
  • Portuguese: caractere (pt) m, caráter (pt) m
  • Russian: си́мвол (ru) m (símvol), знак (ru) m (znak)
  • Spanish: carácter (es) m
  • Swahili: kibambo class ki/vi
  • Swedish: tecken (sv) n
  • Tamil: எழுத்துரு (ta) (eḻutturu)
  • Thai: อักขระ (th) (àk-kà-rà)
  • Turkish: karakter (tr)

Verb[edit]

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.

See also[edit]

  • codepoint
  • font
  • glyph
  • letter
  • symbol
  • rune
  • pictogram

Latin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From the Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr).

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

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

Declension[edit]

Third-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative charactē̆r charactērēs
Genitive charactēris charactērum
Dative charactērī charactēribus
Accusative charactērem charactērēs
Ablative charactēre charactēribus
Vocative charactē̆r charactērēs

Descendants[edit]

  • Hungarian: karakter
  • Galician: caritel; → carácter
  • Irish: carachtar
  • Italian: carattere
  • Old French: caractere
    • → English: character
    • French: caractère
  • Polish: charakter
    • → Russian: хара́ктер (xarákter)
  • Portuguese: caractere, carácter
  • Romanian: caracter
  • Sicilian: caràttiri
  • Spanish: carácter

References[edit]

  • “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[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Portuguese[edit]

Noun[edit]

character m (plural characteres)

  1. Obsolete spelling of caráter (used in Portugal until September 1911 and in Brazil until the 1940s).
Источник

Britannica Dictionary definition of CHARACTER

1 

[count]

:

the way someone thinks, feels, and behaves

:

someone’s personality

— usually singular

  • He rarely shows his true character—that of a kind and sensitive person.

  • This is a side of her character that few people have seen.

  • the different aspects/facets of her character

— often used before another noun

  • Certain character traits are helpful in the teaching profession.

  • Pride, his one character flaw, caused his downfall.

2 

[count]

:

a set of qualities that are shared by many people in a group, country, etc.

— usually singular

  • the character of the American people

  • the character of a nation

  • the French/Japanese/Mexican national character

3 

a 

:

a set of qualities that make a place or thing different from other places or things

[count]

  • the wine’s distinctive character

  • the unique character of the town/city/region

[noncount]

  • The building is very simple in character.

◊ If something is in character with something else, it has the same qualities or characteristics as something else.

  • This room is not really in character with the rest of the house.

b 

[noncount]

:

the qualities or characteristics that make something interesting or special

  • The room lacks character. [=there’s nothing special about the room]

  • Their house has a lot of character.

4 

[count]

:

a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show

  • The film’s main characters are a woman in her late 30s and her elderly neighbor.

  • She plays the film’s lead/main/central character.

  • a fictional character [=a character in a work of fiction]

  • a popular cartoon character

  • the title character of the book Tom Sawyer [=the character named Tom Sawyer]


—

see also cast of characters at 2cast

5 

a 

:

a particular type of person

  • He’s a strange/interesting character.

b 

:

a person who says or does funny or unusual things

  • That husband of yours is a real character!

  • She’s quite a character.

6 

[noncount]

a 

:

the good qualities of a person that usually include moral or emotional strength, honesty, and fairness

  • She’s a kind and honest person of good character.

  • They believe that going to church will improve the moral character of their children.

  • He is admired for his strength of character in stressful situations.

  • Playing sports is seen as a way to build character in young people. = Playing sports is seen as character-building for young people.

◊ A test of (your) character is something that is difficult and that requires you to show that you are a good and emotionally strong person.

  • These past few days have been a real test of my character.

b 

:

the usually good beliefs or opinions that most people have about a particular person

  • They defended the character [=reputation] of their friend.

  • an attack on his character

7 

[count]

:

a symbol (such as a letter or number) that is used in writing or printing

  • the Chinese character for “water”

  • The line is 30 characters long.

in character, out of character

— used to say that some action or behavior is or is not like someone’s usual way of behaving

  • It was entirely in character for a generous person like her to give him the money.

  • His rudeness was completely out of character. [=he is not usually rude]

Источник

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