1. A distinguishing quality; a feature that can be used to identify something
   "His booming laugh was his most recognizable characteristic"
    
2. A prominent attribute or aspect of something
   "generosity is one of his best characteristics";
   - feature
    
3. The integer part (positive or negative) of the representation of a logarithm; in the expression 'log 643 = 2.808' the characteristic is 2
   "The characteristic of log 0.01 is -2"
    
4. (electronics) any measurable property of a device measured under closely specified conditions
   "The engineers tested the transistor's device characteristics at various temperatures";
   - device characteristic

1. Typical or distinctive
   "stripes characteristic of the zebra"; "heard my friend's characteristic laugh"; "red and gold are the characteristic colours of autumn"

Derived forms: characteristics

See also: diagnostic, distinctive, peculiar, symptomatic, typical

Type of: attribute, dimension, integer, property, quality, whole number

Antonym: uncharacteristic

Part of: nature

Encyclopedia: Characteristic