Word: character Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Ancient Greek χαράσσω (kharássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Ancient Greek -τήρ (-tḗr) Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr)der. Latin charactērder. Old French caracterebor. Middle English caracter English character From Middle English caracter, from Old French caractere, from Latin character, from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “type, nature, character”), from χαράσσω (kharássō, “to engrave”). Displaced native English thew from Old English þēaw (in the plural). Doublet of charakter. Pronunciation: /ˈkæ.ɹɪk.tə/, /ˈkæɹ(ə)ktɚ/, /ˈkɛɹ(ə)ktɚ/ 1. A being involved in the action of a story; a persona. Labels: countable Example: [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 … Example: 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. 2. A distinguishing feature; characteristic; trait; nature; phene. Labels: countable Example: A single locus governing the petal colour character was detected on the linkage group A2. Example: We were not able to ascertain the character of the relationship. 3. A complex of traits marking a person, group, breed, or type. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: A study of the suspect's character and his cast iron alibi ruled him out. Example: A man of […] thoroughly subservient character 4. Strength of mind; resolution; independence; individuality; moral strength. Labels: uncountable Example: He has a great deal of character. Example: "You may not like to eat liver," said Calvin's father, "but it builds character." 5. A unique or extraordinary individual; a person characterized by peculiar or notable traits, especially charisma. Labels: countable Example: Julius Caesar is a great historical character. Example: That bloke is such a character. 6. A written or printed symbol, or letter. Labels: countable Example: It were much to be wished that there were throughout the world but one sort of character for each letter to express it to the eye. 7. Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the particular form of letters used by a person or people. Labels: countable, dated Example: an inscription in the Runic character Example: You know the character to be your brother's? 8. A secret cipher; a way of writing in code. Labels: countable, dated 9. One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character. Labels: countable Example: We'll start at the beginning, with the basic building blocks not just of emoji, nor even digital communication, but of all written language: characters and character sets. 10. A person or individual, especially one who is unknown. Labels: countable, informal Example: We saw a shady character slinking out of the office with some papers. Example: That old guy is a real character. 11. An assignment of complex numbers to each element of a group, in particular a finite abelian group. More precisely, a group homomorphism into the group of units of a field (usually ℂ). Labels: countable 12. Quality, position, rank, or capacity; quality or conduct with respect to a certain office or duty. Labels: countable Example: in the miserable character of a slave Example: in his character as a magistrate 13. The estimate, individual or general, put upon a person or thing; reputation. Labels: countable, dated Example: a man's character for truth and veracity Example: Her actions give her a bad character. 14. A reference given to a servant, attesting to their behaviour, competence, etc. Labels: countable, dated 15. Personal appearance. Labels: countable, obsolete