Definition of word characters - Word и Excel - помощь в работе с программами

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)

(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[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.
(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?
(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.
- 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[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)

(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.

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

branding iron
brand (made by a branding iron)
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)

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

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

character

distinctive feature or attribute; nature; disposition; makeup: It is against her character to be anything other than kind.

Not to be confused with:

caricature – a picture that exaggerates a person’s features to produce a comic or grotesque effect: Political cartoonists often use caricature to illustrate the character of their subject.

char·ac·ter

(kăr′ək-tər)

a. The combination of mental characteristics and behavior that distinguishes a person or group. See Synonyms at disposition.

b. The distinguishing nature of something. See Synonyms at quality.

a. Moral strength; integrity: an educational program designed to develop character.

b. Public estimation of someone; reputation: personal attacks that damaged her character.

3. Biology A structure, function, or attribute of an organism, influenced by genetic, environmental, and developmental factors.

a. A person considered as having a specific quality or attribute: «Being a man of the world and a public character, [he] took everything as a matter of course» (George Eliot).

b. A person considered funny or eccentric: catcalls from some character in the back row.

a. A person portrayed in an artistic piece, such as a drama or novel.

b. A person or animal portrayed with a personality in comics or animation: a cartoon character.

c. Characterization in fiction or drama: a script that is weak in plot but strong in character.

d. Status or role; capacity: in his character as the father.

6. A description of a person’s attributes, traits, or abilities.

7. A formal written statement as to competency and dependability, given by an employer to a former employee; a recommendation.

a. A mark or symbol used in a writing system.

b. A Chinese character.

9. Computers

a. One of a set of symbols, such as letters or numbers, that are arranged to express information.

b. The numerical code representing such a character.

10. Mathematics The trace function of a representation.

11.

a. A style of printing or writing: «Here is the hand and seal of the Duke; you know the character» (Shakespeare).

b. A cipher or code for secret writing.

adj.

1. Of or relating to one’s character.

a. Specializing in the interpretation of often minor roles that emphasize fixed personality traits or specific physical characteristics: a character actor.

b. Of or relating to the interpretation of such roles by an actor: the character part of the hero’s devoted mother.

3. Dedicated to the portrayal of a person with regard to distinguishing psychological or physical features: a character sketch.

tr.v. charac·tered, charac·ter·ing, charac·ters Archaic

1. To write, print, engrave, or inscribe.

2. To portray or describe; characterize.

Idioms:

in character

Consistent with someone’s general character or behavior: behavior that was totally in character.

out of character

Inconsistent with someone’s general character or behavior: a response so much out of character that it amazed me.

[Middle English carecter, distinctive mark, imprint on the soul, from Old French caractere, from Latin charactēr, from Greek kharaktēr, from kharassein, to inscribe, from kharax, kharak-, pointed stick.]

char′ac·ter·less adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

character

(ˈkærɪktə)

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

2. one such distinguishing quality; characteristic

3. moral force; integrity: a man of character.

a. reputation, esp a good reputation

b. (as modifier): character assassination.

5. a summary or account of a person’s qualities and achievements; testimonial: my last employer gave me a good character.

6. capacity, position, or status: he spoke in the character of a friend rather than a father.

7. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) a person represented in a play, film, story, etc; role

8. an outstanding person: one of the great characters of the century.

9. informal an odd, eccentric, or unusual person: he’s quite a character.

10. an informal word for person: a shady character.

11. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) a symbol used in a writing system, such as a letter of the alphabet

12. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) printing Also called: sort any single letter, numeral, punctuation mark, or symbol cast as a type

13. (Computer Science) computing any letter, numeral, etc, which is a unit of information and can be represented uniquely by a binary pattern

14. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) a style of writing or printing

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

16. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) a short prose sketch of a distinctive type of person, usually representing a vice or virtue

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

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

vb (tr)

19. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) to write, print, inscribe, or engrave

20. rare to portray or represent

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

ˈcharacterful adj

ˈcharacterless adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

char•ac•ter

(ˈkær ɪk tər)

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

2. one such feature or trait; characteristic.

3. moral or ethical quality: a woman of strong character.

4. qualities of honesty, fortitude, etc.; integrity.

5. reputation: a stain on one’s character.

6. distinctive, often interesting qualities: an old pub with a lot of character.

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

8. an odd, eccentric, or unusual person.

9. a person represented in a drama, story, etc.

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

11. status or capacity: in his character of a justice of the peace.

12. a symbol used in a system of writing: Chinese characters.

13. a significant visual mark or symbol.

14. an account of a person’s qualities, abilities, etc.; reference.

15. (in 17th- and 18th-century literature) a sketch of a particular virtue or vice represented in a person or type.

16. any trait, function, structure, or substance of an organism resulting from the effect of one or more genes.

17. any encoded unit of computer-usable data representing a symbol, as a letter, number, or puncuation mark, or a space, carriage return, etc.

18. a cipher or cipher message.

adj.

19. (of a theatrical role) having or requiring eccentric, comedic, ethnic, or other distinctive traits.

20. (of an actor) acting or specializing in such roles.

v.t. Archaic.

21. to portray; describe.

22. to engrave; inscribe.

Idioms:

in (or out of) character,

a. in accord with (or in violation of) one’s usual behavior and disposition.

b. in accordance with (or deviating from) behavior appropriate to the role assumed by an actor.

[1275–1325; Middle English caractere < Middle French < Latin charactēr < Greek charaktḗr graving tool, its mark]

char′ac•ter•ful, adj.

char′ac•ter•less, adj.

syn: character, personality refer to the sum of the characteristics possessed by a person. character refers esp. to the moral qualities and ethical standards that make up the inner nature of a person: a man of sterling character. personality refers particularly to outer characteristics, as wittiness or charm, that determine the impression that a person makes upon others: a pleasing personality. See also reputation.

character

, reputation — Character is what one is; reputation is what one is thought to be by others.

Character

character

A number, letter, or symbol.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	character — an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story); «she is the main character in the novel» fictional character, fictitious character imaginary being, imaginary creature — a creature of the imagination; a person that exists only in legends or myths or fiction
	2.	character — a characteristic property that defines the apparent individual nature of something; «each town has a quality all its own»; «the radical character of our demands» lineament, quality attribute, dimension, property — a construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished; «self-confidence is not an endearing property» texture — the essential quality of something; «the texture of Neapolitan life»
	3.	character — the inherent complex of attributes that determines a persons moral and ethical actions and reactions; «education has for its object the formation of character»- Herbert Spencer fibre, fiber trait — a distinguishing feature of your personal nature personality — the complex of all the attributes—behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental—that characterize a unique individual; «their different reactions reflected their very different personalities»; «it is his nature to help others» spirit — a fundamental emotional and activating principle determining one’s character thoughtfulness — the trait of thinking carefully before acting responsibleness, responsibility — a form of trustworthiness; the trait of being answerable to someone for something or being responsible for one’s conduct; «he holds a position of great responsibility» integrity — moral soundness; «he expects to find in us the common honesty and integrity of men of business»; «they admired his scrupulous professional integrity»
	4.	character — an actor’s portrayal of someone in a play; «she played the part of Desdemona» persona, theatrical role, role, part personation, portrayal, characterization, enactment — acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesture bit part, minor role — a small role heavy — a serious (or tragic) role in a play hero — the principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem ingenue — the role of an innocent artless young woman in a play name part, title role — the role of the character after whom the play is named heroine — the main good female character in a work of fiction baddie, villain — the principal bad character in a film or work of fiction
	5.	character — a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities); «a real character»; «a strange character»; «a friendly eccentric»; «the capable type»; «a mental case» eccentric, type, case adult, grownup — a fully developed person from maturity onward
	6.	character — good repute; «he is a man of character» reputation, repute — the state of being held in high esteem and honor
	7.	character — a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person’s qualifications and dependability; «requests for character references are all too often answered evasively» character reference, reference good word, recommendation, testimonial — something that recommends (or expresses commendation of) a person or thing as worthy or desirable
	8.	character — a written symbol that is used to represent speech; «the Greek alphabet has 24 characters» grapheme, graphic symbol printed symbol, written symbol — a written or printed symbol allograph — a variant form of a grapheme, as `m’ or `M’ or a handwritten version of that grapheme check character — a character that is added to the end of a block of transmitted data and used to check the accuracy of the transmission superscript, superior — a character or symbol set or printed or written above and immediately to one side of another character subscript, inferior — a character or symbol set or printed or written beneath or slightly below and to the side of another character ASCII character — any member of the standard code for representing characters by binary numbers ligature — character consisting of two or more letters combined into one capital letter, majuscule, uppercase, upper-case letter, capital — one of the large alphabetic characters used as the first letter in writing or printing proper names and sometimes for emphasis; «printers once kept the type for capitals and for small letters in separate cases; capitals were kept in the upper half of the type case and so became known as upper-case letters» lowercase, lower-case letter, minuscule, small letter — the characters that were once kept in bottom half of a compositor’s type case type — printed characters; «small type is hard to read» percent sign, percentage sign — a sign (`%’) used to indicate that the number preceding it should be understood as a proportion multiplied by 100 asterisk, star — a star-shaped character * used in printing dagger, obelisk — a character used in printing to indicate a cross reference or footnote diesis, double dagger, double obelisk — a character used in printing to indicate a cross reference or footnote alphabetic character, letter of the alphabet, letter — the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech; «his grandmother taught him his letters» blank, space — a blank character used to separate successive words in writing or printing; «he said the space is the most important character in the alphabet» phonetic symbol — a written character used in phonetic transcription of represent a particular speech sound mathematical symbol — a character that is used to indicates a mathematical relation or operation rune, runic letter — any character from an ancient Germanic alphabet used in Scandinavia from the 3rd century to the Middle Ages; «each rune had its own magical significance» pictograph — a graphic character used in picture writing ideogram, ideograph — a graphic character that indicates the meaning of a thing without indicating the sounds used to say it; «Chinese characters are ideograms» radical — a character conveying the lexical meaning of a logogram stenograph — a shorthand character
	9.	character — (genetics) an attribute (structural or functional) that is determined by a gene or group of genes attribute — an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity unit character — (genetics) a character inherited on an all-or-none basis and dependent on the presence of a single gene genetic science, genetics — the branch of biology that studies heredity and variation in organisms
Verb	1.	character — engrave or inscribe characters on engrave, inscribe, grave, scratch — carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface; «engrave a pen»; «engraved the trophy cupt with the winner’s»; «the lovers scratched their names into the bark of the tree»

character

noun

1. personality, nature, make-up, cast, constitution, bent, attributes, temper, temperament, complexion, disposition, individuality, marked traits There is a side to his character which you haven’t seen yet.

5. courage, resolution, determination, guts (informal), pluck, grit, bravery, backbone, fortitude, staying power, strength of mind, dauntlessness She showed real character in her refusal to give up.

6. role, part, persona He plays the film’s central character.

7. eccentric, card (informal), original, nut (slang), flake (slang, chiefly U.S.), oddity, oddball (informal), odd bod (informal), queer fish (Brit. informal), wacko or whacko (informal) He’ll be sadly missed. He was a real character.

8. symbol, mark, sign, letter, figure, type, device, logo, emblem, rune, cipher, hieroglyph Chinese characters inscribed on a plaque

Quotations
«Genius is formed in quiet, character in the stream of human life» [Goethe Torquato Tasso]
«Character is much easier kept than recovered» [Thomas Paine The American Crisis]
«A man’s character is his fate» [Heraclitus On the Universe]
«Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing» [Abraham Lincoln]
«Fate and character are the same concept» [Novalis Heinrich von Ofterdingen]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

character

noun

1. The combination of emotional, intellectual, and moral qualities that distinguishes an individual:

2. Moral or ethical strength:

3. A distinctive element:

4. A statement attesting to personal qualifications, character, and dependability:

5. Public estimation of someone:

Informal: rep.

6. An important, influential person:

7. A person who is appealingly odd or curious:

8. A person portrayed in fiction or drama:

9. A conventional mark used in a writing system:

Translations

حَرْفٌ هِجائيسُمْعَه، شُهْرَهشَخْصٌ غَريبُ الأطْوارشَخْصِيَّةشَخْصِيَّه

postavaznakcharakterčíslopísmeno

karakterrolleryrygteskikkelse

hahmoluonneluonteenpiirremerkkihenkilö

karakterlik

karakterbetűjellem

persónaskapfestaskapgerî, lundernifurîufugl, sérkennilegurletur

特質登場人物

등장인물특성

apibūdinimasapibūdintiasmenybėbruožasbūdingas

burtspersonāžspersonībarakstu zīmeraksturīgas iezīmes

personaj

zvláštny človek

oseba v igriznačaj

karakterkarakteristikalikosobina

karaktärpersonlighetrolltecken

ตัวละครอุปนิสัย

đặc điểmnhân vật

character

[ˈkærɪktəʳ]

A. N

4. (= person) → tipo/a m/f, individuo/a m/f
he’s a very odd character → es un tipo muy raro
he’s quite a character → es todo un personaje

5. (Comput, Typ, Bio) → carácter m

Collins Spanish Dictionary — Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

character

in cpds (Theat) → Charakter-;

character

character map

n (Comput) → Zeichentabelle f

character mapping

n (Comput) → Zeichenbelegung f

character sketch

n → Charakterstudie f

character space

n (Comput) → Zeichenplatz m

character witness

n (Jur) → Leumundszeuge m, → Leumundszeugin f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

character

(ˈkӕrəktə) noun

1. the set of qualities that make someone or something different from others; type. You can tell a man’s character from his handwriting; Publicity of this character is not good for the firm.

2. a set of qualities that are considered admirable in some way. He showed great character in dealing with the danger.

3. reputation. They tried to damage his character.

4. a person in a play, novel etc. Rosencrantz is a minor character in Shakespeare’s `Hamlet’.

5. an odd or amusing person. This fellow’s quite a character!

6. a letter used in typing etc. Some characters on this typewriter are broken.

ˌcharacterˈistic adjective

(negative uncharacteristic) typical (of a person etc). He spoke with characteristic shyness; That kind of behaviour is characteristic of him.

noun

a typical quality. It is one of his characteristics to be obstinate.

ˌcharacteˈristically adverbˈcharacterize, ˈcharacterise verb

1. to be the obvious feature of. The giraffe is characterized by its long neck.

2. to describe (as). She characterized him as weak and indecisive.

ˌcharacteriˈzation, ˌcharacteriˈsation noun

character

→ شَخْصِيَّة charakter, postava karakter, rolle Charakter, Figur χαρακτήρας carácter, personaje hahmo, luonne personnage karakter, lik carattere, personaggio 特質, 登場人物 등장인물, 특성 karakter, personage egenskap, rolle charakter, postać caráter, personagem персонаж, характер personlighet, roll ตัวละคร, อุปนิสัย karakter đặc điểm, nhân vật 人物, 特征

Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

char·ac·ter

1. n. carácter;

2. calidad, naturaleza;

[actor, actress in a play or movie] personaje.

___ disorder → trastorno del ___.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

Источник

Britannica Dictionary definition of CHARACTER

[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.

[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

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.

[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.

[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

a particular type of person

He’s a strange/interesting character.

a person who says or does funny or unusual things

That husband of yours is a real character!
She’s quite a character.

[noncount]

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.

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

[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

types:

show 109 types…

hide 109 types…

allograph

a variant form of a grapheme, as `m’ or `M’ or a handwritten version of that grapheme

check character

a character that is added to the end of a block of transmitted data and used to check the accuracy of the transmission

superior, superscript

a character or symbol set or printed or written above and immediately to one side of another character

inferior, subscript

a character or symbol set or printed or written beneath or slightly below and to the side of another character

ASCII character

any member of the standard code for representing characters by binary numbers

ligature

character consisting of two or more letters combined into one

capital, capital letter, majuscule, upper-case letter, uppercase

one of the large alphabetic characters used as the first letter in writing or printing proper names and sometimes for emphasis

lower-case letter, lowercase, miniscule, minuscule, small letter

the characters that were once kept in bottom half of a compositor’s type case

type

printed characters

percent sign, percentage sign

a sign (`%’) used to indicate that the number preceding it should be understood as a proportion multiplied by 100

asterisk, star

a star-shaped character (*) used in printing

dagger, obelisk

a character used in printing to indicate a cross reference or footnote

diesis, double dagger, double obelisk

a character used in printing to indicate a cross reference or footnote

alphabetic character, letter, letter of the alphabet

the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech

blank, space

a blank character used to separate successive words in writing or printing

phonetic symbol

a written character used in phonetic transcription of represent a particular speech sound

mathematical symbol

a character that is used to indicates a mathematical relation or operation

rune, runic letter

any character from an ancient Germanic alphabet used in Scandinavia from the 3rd century to the Middle Ages

pictograph

a graphic character used in picture writing

ideogram, ideograph

a graphic character that indicates the meaning of a thing without indicating the sounds used to say it

radical

a character conveying the lexical meaning of a logogram

stenograph

a shorthand character

ASCII control character, control character

ASCII characters to indicate carriage return or tab or backspace; typed by depressing a key and the control key at the same time

small cap, small capital

a character having the form of an upper-case letter but the same height as lower-case letters

type family

a complete set of type suitable for printing text

case, face, font, fount, typeface

a specific size and style of type within a type family

ascender

a lowercase letter that has a part extending above other lowercase letters

descender

a lowercase letter that has a part extending below other lowercase letters

digram, digraph

two successive letters (especially two letters used to represent a single sound: `sh’ in `shoe’)

initial

the first letter of a word (especially a person’s name)

A, a

the 1st letter of the Roman alphabet

B, b

the 2nd letter of the Roman alphabet

C, c

the 3rd letter of the Roman alphabet

D, d

the 4th letter of the Roman alphabet

E, e

the 5th letter of the Roman alphabet

F, f

the 6th letter of the Roman alphabet

G, g

the 7th letter of the Roman alphabet

H, h

the 8th letter of the Roman alphabet

I, i

the 9th letter of the Roman alphabet

J, j

the 10th letter of the Roman alphabet

K, k

the 11th letter of the Roman alphabet

L, l

the 12th letter of the Roman alphabet

M, m

the 13th letter of the Roman alphabet

N, n

the 14th letter of the Roman alphabet

O, o

the 15th letter of the Roman alphabet

P, p

the 16th letter of the Roman alphabet

Q, q

the 17th letter of the Roman alphabet

R, r

the 18th letter of the Roman alphabet

S, s

the 19th letter of the Roman alphabet

T, t

the 20th letter of the Roman alphabet

U, u

the 21st letter of the Roman alphabet

V, v

the 22nd letter of the Roman alphabet

W, double-u, w

the 23rd letter of the Roman alphabet

X, ex, x

the 24th letter of the Roman alphabet

Y, wye, y

the 25th letter of the Roman alphabet

Z, ezed, izzard, z, zed, zee

the 26th letter of the Roman alphabet

alpha

the 1st letter of the Greek alphabet

beta

the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet

gamma

the 3rd letter of the Greek alphabet

delta

the 4th letter of the Greek alphabet

epsilon

the 5th letter of the Greek alphabet

zeta

the 6th letter of the Greek alphabet

eta

the 7th letter of the Greek alphabet

theta

the 8th letter of the Greek alphabet

iota

the 9th letter of the Greek alphabet

kappa

the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet

lambda

the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet

the 12th letter of the Greek alphabet

the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet

the 14th letter of the Greek alphabet

omicron

the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet

the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet

rho

the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet

sigma

the 18th letter of the Greek alphabet

tau

the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet

upsilon

the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet

phi

the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet

chi, khi

the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet

psi

the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet

omega

the last (24th) letter of the Greek alphabet

aleph

the 1st letter of the Hebrew alphabet

beth

the 2nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet

gimel

the 3rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet

daleth

the 4th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

the 5th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

waw

the 6th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

zayin

the 7th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

heth

the 8th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

teth

the 9th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

yodh

the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

kaph

the 11th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

lamedh

the 12th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

mem

the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

nun

the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

samekh

the 15th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

ayin

the 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

sadhe

the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

qoph

the 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

resh

the 20th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

sin

the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet

shin

the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet

taw

the 23rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet

polyphone, polyphonic letter

a letter that has two or more pronunciations

block capital, block letter

a plain hand-drawn letter

thorn

a Germanic character of runic origin

logogram, logograph

a single written symbol that represents an entire word or phrase without indicating its pronunciation

vowel

a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken vowel

consonant

a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken consonant

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Idioms And Phrases

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[ 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.

any symbol, as a number, letter, punctuation mark, etc., that represents data and that, when encoded, is usable by a machine.
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.

(of a part or role) representing a personality type, especially by emphasizing distinctive traits, as language, mannerisms, physical makeup, etc.
(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,

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

out of character,

out of harmony with one’s personal character or disposition: Her remarks were out of character.
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

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

reputation, esp a good reputation
(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.

Cultural definitions for character

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with character

see in character; out of character.

Источник

Definition & Examples
When & How to Write a Character
Quiz

I. What is Character?

A character is a person, animal, being, creature, or thing in a story. Writers use characters to perform the actions and speak dialogue, moving the story along a plot line. A story can have only one character (protagonist) and still be a complete story. This character’s conflict may be an inner one (within him/herself), or a conflict with something natural, such as climbing a mountain. Most stories have multiple characters interacting, with one of them as the antagonist, causing a conflict for the protagonist.

A popular television series that just ended is the show “Glee.” Each season had popular characters who had to learn to work together to create a good musical production. Various characters underwent a change, making them a dynamic character, such as Noah Puckerman. He appears to carry out the stereotype of a jock (strong but not so smart), but his character changes as it’s revealed that he can be hard working and intelligent.

A movie that features one character throughout most of it is “Castaway” with Tom Hanks. His character is on board a shipping plane when it crashes. He’s the only survivor, trapped on an island for four years. This movie focuses on his psychological (mental) and physical condition as he slowly adapts to a life of isolation, living alone on an island that is off all regular sea and airplane routes. It’s a great example of how a story can work with only one character, although many minor characters appear in the beginning and end.

III. Types of Character

a. Major characters

These are the most important characters in the story. There are two types, of which there may be a couple for each.

Protagonist – This is the main character, around which the whole story revolves. The decisions made by this character will be affected by a conflict from within, or externally through another character, nature, technology, society, or the fates/God.
Antagonist – This character, or group of characters, causes the conflict for the protagonist. However, the antagonist could be the protagonist, who is torn by a problem within. Most times, something external is causing the problem. A group of people causing the conflict would be considered society, perhaps the members of a team, community, or institution. Additionally, the antagonist could be a part of nature, such as an animal, the weather, a mountain or lake. A different kind of antagonist would be an item such as a pen, car, phone, carpet, etc. These are all considered technology, since they are instruments or tools to complete a job. Finally, if the conflict comes from something out of the character’s control, the antagonist is fate or God.

b. Minor characters

These are the other characters in a story. They are not as important as the major characters, but still play a large part in the story. Their actions help drive the story forward. They may impact the decisions the protagonist or antagonist make, either helping or interfering with the conflict.

Characters can have different traits. Major characters will usually be more dynamic, changing and growing through the story while minor characters may be more static.

Foil – A foil is a character that has opposite character traits from another, meant to help highlight or bring out another’s positive or negative side. Many times, the antagonist is the foil for the protagonist.
Static – Characters who are static do not change throughout the story. Their use may simply be to create or relieve tension, or they were not meant to change. A major character can remain static through the whole story.
Dynamic – Dynamic characters change throughout the story. They may learn a lesson, become bad, or change in complex ways.
Flat – A flat character has one or two main traits, usually only all positive or negative. They are the opposite of a round character. The flaw or strength has its use in the story.
Round – These are the opposite of the flat character. These characters have many different traits, good and bad, making them more interesting.
Stock – These are the stereotypical characters, such as the boy genius, ambitious career person, faithful sidekick, mad scientist, etc.

IV. The Importance of Character

Characters are what make stories. Without a character, there is no story to tell, only a lot of scenery. Many characters in literature, television series, and movies have a huge impact on people. Some people like to live their lives through these characters, who appear to have more exciting lives. Also, these characters may seem so real and inspirational, that people forget they are fictional.

Characters become so important to the audience, that cities across the country hold conventions in which people pay a lot of money to dress and act as their favorite characters from multiple types of shows, particularly of the comic magazine genre (type of literature).

V. Examples of Character in Pop Culture

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been keeping the city safe since the 1980s, but are still just as popular today. They each have their own special fighting method as well as personality. Originally simple, small turtles, they became super human, err turtle, after an accident in which the fish bowl of water they were in got knocked out of their owner’s hands and fell down a sewer grate, along with a canister of radioactive material. The rest is history. Nickelodeon has brought the characters back to fame, as can be seen on the channel and in the Nickelodeon Hotel in Orlando, Florida. The hotel features suites based on characters from the Nickelodeon shows for kids, and kids can interact with their favorite characters, including the Turtles, during breakfast and fun events. It’s clear that characters are an important part of our culture.

The characters are named after famous painters, and each turtle has his own personality to which different kids may relate. For example, Leonardo is the wise leader, the one who can keep the group focused. Raphael is the hothead. His temper wants to get the best of him, just as most of us would like to jump into things! Michaelangelo is the comedian. Like our class clowns in school, he’s the group clown. Finally, no group is complete without the geeky nerd. Donatello is always inventing things to help our turtle heroes in their adventures.

VI. Examples of Character in Literature

A book whose character was inspired by a real teenage girl is “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green. The protagonist is 16-year-old Hazel, who meets Gus, a fellow 16-year-old cancer patient, at a camp. Their young romance is doomed as they are fighting a losing battle with cancer. Their strong spirits overcome their parents’ fears as the determined Hazel gets her wish to go overseas to meet an author she has long admired. The book has both characters undergoing change, very dynamic, as they struggle to adapt to their fate. The minor characters are impacted by the decisions Hazel and Gus make, giving depth to the story line. This book is an example of how authors take real life situations to create believable and interesting characters. Green’s inspiration for the story, Esther Earl, was a young fan with cancer who had wanted to meet him. He became friends with her and her family. She was diagnosed with cancer at 12 and died at 16.

John Green Discusses the Touching Inspiration Behind ‘The Fault in Our Stars’

VII. Related Terms

Archetype: A standard or stock type of character that appears in fiction, such as the villain, the hero, the damsel-in-distress, or the sidekick. Each archetype has more categories within, as well. For example, the villain could be a tyrant, devil, schemer, etc. The hero could be the warrior, proto-female, scapegoat, etc. These are especially common in fairy and folk tales.

VIII. Conclusion

Characters are the whole reason for any story. They can be used to help teach a lesson, to entertain, to educate, and even to persuade, depending on the author’s goal for the story line. Characters can be based on real people and events, or be totally unrealistic, such as space aliens. People become attached to characters as if they are real, may develop favorites, and relate to those that have faced similar situations.

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character

char·ac·ter

character

char•ac•ter

character

Character

character

character

character

character

character

character

character

character

character

char·ac·ter

in character, out of character

Idioms about character

Origin of character

synonym study for character

OTHER WORDS FROM character

Words nearby character

MORE ABOUT CHARACTER

What does character mean?

Where does character come from?

Did you know … ?

How is character used in real life?

Try using character!

Words related to character

How to use character in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for character

Derived forms of character

Word Origin for character

Scientific definitions for character

Cultural definitions for character

Other Idioms and Phrases with character

I. What is Character?

III. Types of Character

a. Major characters

b. Minor characters

IV. The Importance of Character

V. Examples of Character in Pop Culture

VI. Examples of Character in Literature

VII. Related Terms

VIII. Conclusion