characteristic

[ kar-ik-tuh-ris-tik ]
/ ˌkær ɪk təˈrɪs tɪk /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR characteristic ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

Also char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal. pertaining to, constituting, or indicating the character or peculiar quality of a person or thing; typical; distinctive: Red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn.

noun

a distinguishing feature or quality: Generosity is his chief characteristic.
Mathematics.
  1. the integral part of a common logarithm.Compare mantissa.
  2. the exponent of 10 in a number expressed in scientific notation.
  3. the smallest positive integer n such that each element of a given ring added to itself n times results in 0.

Origin of characteristic

From the Greek word charaktēristikós, dating back to 1655–65. See character, -istic

OTHER WORDS FROM characteristic

Words nearby characteristic

character sketch, character study, character type, character witness, characterful, characteristic, characteristic curve, characteristic equation, characteristic function, characteristic polynomial, characteristic root

Words related to uncharacteristic

atypical, exceptional, novel, uncommon, unconventional, unexpected, unordinary, accidental, adventitious, extraneous, extrinsic, heterogeneous, immaterial, impertinent, incompatible, incongruous, inconsistent, repugnant, unrelated, inapposite

Example sentences from the Web for uncharacteristic

British Dictionary definitions for uncharacteristic (1 of 2)

uncharacteristic
/ (ˌʌnkærɪktəˈrɪstɪk) /

adjective

not typical or usual

British Dictionary definitions for uncharacteristic (2 of 2)

characteristic
/ (ˌkærɪktəˈrɪstɪk) /

noun

a distinguishing quality, attribute, or trait
maths
  1. the integral part of a common logarithm, indicating the order of magnitude of the associated numberthe characteristic of 2.4771 is 2 Compare mantissa
  2. another name for exponent, used esp in number representation in computing

adjective

indicative of a distinctive quality, etc; typical

Derived forms of characteristic

characteristically, adverb

Medical definitions for uncharacteristic

characteristic
[ kăr′ək-tə-rĭs′tĭk ]

n.

A distinguishing feature or attribute; character.
A structure or function determined by a gene or genes; trait.

Other words from characteristic

char′ac•ter•is′tic adj.

Scientific definitions for uncharacteristic

characteristic
[ kăr′ək-tə-rĭs′tĭk ]

The part of a logarithm to the base 10 that is to the left of the decimal point. For example, if 2.749 is a logarithm, 2 is the characteristic. Compare mantissa.