DIMENSIONS: FORM / Guide
R E F E R E N C E S
Character 1. the aggregate of features and traits that form the apparent individual nature of some person or thing. 2. one such feature or trait; chracteristic. 3. moral or ethical quality. 4. qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity. It takes character to talk up to a bully like that. 5. reputation. 6. good repute. 7. an account of the qualities or peculiarities of a person or thing. 8. a formal statement from an employer concerning the qualities and habits of a former servant or employee; reference. 9. status or capacity. 10. a person, esp. with reference to behavior or personality: a suspicious character; a weak character. 11. Informal. an odd or eccentric person. 12. a person represented in a drama, story, etc. 13. Literature. [esp. 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. 14. a part or role, as in a play, motion picture, or the like. 15. Genetics. any trait, function, structure, or substance of an organism resulting from the effect of one or more genes as modified by the environment. 16. a significant visual mark or symbol. 17. a symbol as used in a writing system, as a letter of the alphabet. 18. the symbols of a writing system collectively. 19. Computer Technol. a. any symbol, as a number or letter that represents informtion and, when encoded, is usable by a machine. b. a pattern of ones and zeros representing the relationship of positive and negative pulses in a computer. 20. a style of writing or printing. 21. in or out of character, in or out of harmony with one's nature or disposition. -adj. 22. Theat. representing or portraying a marked or distinctive personality type: character actor. -v.t. Archaic. 23. to portray; describe. 24. to engrave; inscribe. [< L < GK charaktér graving tool, its mark = charak- (var. s. of charéttein to engrave) + tér instrumental suffix; r, ME caractere < MF < L as above.
-Syn. 1. CHARACTER, INDIVIDUALITY, PERSONALITY refer to the sum of the characteristics possessed by a person. Character refers esp. to moral qualities, ethical standards, principles, and the like: Ia man of sterling character. INDIVIDUALITY refers to the distinctive qualities that make one recognizable as a person differentiated from others: a man 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 man of pleasing personality. 5. name, repute. See reputation. 16. sign, figure, emblem.
Characteristic 1. Also characteristical. pertaining to, constituting, or indicating the character or peculiar quality of a person or thing; typical; distinctive. -n. 2. a distinguishing feature or quality. 3. Math. a. the integral part of a common logarithm. Cf. mantissa. b. the exponent of 10 in a number expressed in scientific notation. -Syn. 1. special, peculiar. 2. attribute, property, trait. See feature.
[Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House, 1968.]
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