characteristicn.adj.

Brit.

/ˌkarᵻktəˈrɪstɪk/, U.S.

/ˌkɛr(ə)ktəˈrɪstɪk/

Forms: 1600s caracteristick, 1600s carracteristick, 1600s characteristique, 1600s charecteristick, 1600s charecteristique, 1600s–1700s characteristick, 1600s– characteristic.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Partly a borrowing from Greek. Etymons: Latin characteristicus; Greek χαρακτηριστικός.

Etymology: < (i) post-classical Latin characteristicus distinctive, specific (12th cent.; 14th cent. in a British source), and its etymon (ii) Hellenistic Greek χαρακτηριστικός distinctive, typical < χαρακτηρίζειν characterize v. + -τικός , suffix forming adjectives from verbs (compare -ic suffix). With the use as adjective compare earlier characteristical adj.Compare Middle French caracteristique , French caractéristique (noun) distinctive mark, trait, or feature that may serve for identification (1550, earliest in specific sense ‘element which, in Greek grammar, indicates the tense of a verb form’), (adjective) distinctive, typical (1694); also Spanish característica , feminine noun (1506), característico , adjective (1685), Italian caratteristica , feminine noun (1639, earliest in the specific mathematical use at sense A. 2a), caratteristico , adjective (1691). In sense A. 2a after post-classical Latin characteristica ( H. Briggs Arithmetica logarithmica (1624) iv. 4). In the specific use denoting a universal language or calculus for presenting processes of reasoning (see sense A. 3) ultimately after post-classical Latin characteristica, feminine noun (a1676 or earlier in Leibniz in this sense, e.g. in characteristica realis (a1676 or earlier in manuscript notes by Leibniz), characteristica universalis (1679 in the title of Leibniz's Elementa characteristicae universalis, or earlier)). Although later philosophers, e.g. G. Frege, have used the terms lingua characteristica ‘characteristic language’ and lingua characteristica universalis ‘universal characteristic language’ to denote Leibniz's universal language or calculus, these terms were not used by Leibniz himself. In sense A. 4 after French caractéristique, noun (1881 in this sense: M. Deprez in Compt. rend. hebd. de l'Acad. des Sci. 92 1153, the passage translated in quot. 1881). The forms characteric and (up to the early 19th cent.) †characterick occur frequently as typographical errors for characteristic in printed sources. Compare e.g.:1654 J. Newton Institutio Mathematica 141 Master Briggs..made the Logarithmes to the Radius of sixteen: so here for conveniency and exactness both, the same Characterick is here continued.1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters p. v The general Characterics of salt.1820 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 36/2 It is the characterick of all the different kinds of small stock enumerated, that..a few well-selected parent pairs of each would soon multiply their species into any extent of stock.1891 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 5 June 603/2 A very beautiful piece of modern glass in Salisbury Cathedral..had just been completed, the principal characterics being a field in silver green, with beautiful reds.1956 Times 22 Mar. 14/2 A deep and sympathetic understanding of human nature was perhaps his chief characteric.

A. n.

a. A distinctive mark, trait, or feature that may serve for identification; a distinguishing or essential peculiarity or quality. With of.national, ride, sex characteristic, etc.: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > [noun] > a characteristic

privilegec1225

distinctionc1374

propertyc1390

tachea1400

pointa1425

specialty?a1425

difference?c1425

conditionc1460

markc1522

touch1528

specialty1532

differentia1551

character?1569

formality1570

particularity1585

peculiar1589

accent1591

appropriation1600

characterism1603

peculiarity1606

resemblance1622

propera1626

speciality1625

specificationa1631

appropriament1633

characteristic1646

discrimination1646

diagnostic1651

characteristical1660

stroke1666

talent1670

physiognomya1680

oddity1713

distinctive1816

spécialité1836

trait1864

flavour1866

middle name1905

discriminant1920

discriminator1943

1646 T. Hooker Heautonaparnumenos 5 This Doctrine of Self-denyall being the singular Dogma of Christ, above all others, He would have it here become the Characteristick of all Christians.

1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity i. 2 The most obvious circumstantial Characteristick of the Whore of Babylon.

1677 R. Cary Palæologia Chronica i. ii. i. iv. 59 These numbers..are undoubted Characteristiques..serving to discriminate one Year from another.

1729 A. Pope Dunciad (new ed.) 193 Anger, one of the Characteristics of Mr. Dennis's Critical Writings.

1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting II. iii. 146 The chapel of Lincoln's-inn has none of the characteristics of that architecture.

1812 W. Crotch Elem. Musical Composition 112 The peculiar characteristic of the piano forte is its power of varying degrees of loudness and softness.

1858 J. Doran Hist. Court Fools 125 It was the characteristic of our English kings, to be liberal to their buffoons.

1879 J. Lubbock Sci. Lect. i. 9 Color, scent, and honey are the three characteristics by which insects are attracted to flowers.

1923 W. S. Holdsworth Hist. Eng. Law (rev. ed.) iv. 405 Those two fundamental characteristics of our English constitution—the system of self-government and the rule of law.

1961 K. N. Cameron Shelley & his Circle I. p. xxxviii One cause of confusion..seemed to be the mixing of literary with nonliterary characteristics, for instance, the type and quantity of the writing by the author with the physical size, amount, and shape of the paper.

2011 D. Lipsky From Anxiety to Meltdown ii. 38 The ability or inability to make eye contact should never be a defining characteristic ruling autism in or out as a diagnosis.

†b. Perhaps: a distinctive name or appellation. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1702 T. Ken Let. 29 Mar. in E. H. Plumptre Life Thomas Ken (1888) II. 121 He never uses any characterisetick in the prayers, himself, nor is present when any is read.

2. Mathematics.

a. The part of a logarithm before the decimal point. Cf mantissa n. 2a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > logarithm > [noun] > numerical elements

characteristic1654

index1678

exponent1734

modulus1753

base1772

mantissa1846

M1890

1654 J. Newton Institutio Mathematica i. v. 133 Every Logarithme hath his proper Characteristick.

1687 J. Taylor Thesaurarium Mathematicae ii. 20 It will be necessary to explain the meaning of the first figure to the left hand of any Logarithm placed, Mr. Briggs calleth it a Characteristick or Index.

1798 C. Hutton Course Math. I. 148 The integral part of a logarithm, usually called the Index, or Characteristic.

1848 H. Law Gregory's Math. Pract. Men (ed. 3) i. 41 When the quantity is less than unity, the characteristic of its logarithm becomes negative.

1913 Pop. Mech. Feb. 291/2 In all logarithmic tables only the mantissa is given, as the characteristic can be easily added.

2013 D. C. Harris Exploring Chem. Anal. (ed. 5) iii. 58 The logarithm of 339 is properly expressed as 2.530. The characteristic, 2, corresponds to the exponent in 3.39 x 10².

†b. The invariable anharmonic ratio of the four tangents which can be drawn to a plane cubic from any one of its own points. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1805 Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. 5 105 It is to be carefully noted which of the two signs is necessary, that a and b may have real values: because on this depends the characteristic of the reduced equation..and, consequently, whether it has three roots, or only one.

1852 G. Salmon Treat. Higher Plane Curves Index 310/1 Characteristic of a cubic.

1865 W. T. Brande & G. W. Cox Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (new ed.) I. 419/1 Since anharmonic ratios are unaltered by projection, no two cubics can be projections of one another unless they have equal characteristics.

3. A system of characters or symbols (cf. character n. 4a). Now Philosophy (in full universal characteristic): a universal language or calculus for presenting processes of reasoning, envisaged by Leibniz.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > system of writing > alphabet > [noun]

staff-rewOE

abecedariumOE

ABCc1325

alphabet?a1475

character1569

abecedary1596

one's P's and Q's1763

characteristic1769

staverow1866

1769 tr. J. D. Michaelis Diss. Infl. Opinions on Lang. Pref. p. vi A characteristic of easier execution.

1769 tr. J. D. Michaelis Diss. Infl. Opinions on Lang. viii. 77* The written language of the Chinese..is rather a characteristic, than a language.

1825 C. F. Partington in Cent. Inventions Marquis of Worcester 38 Leibnitz considered his universal characteristic as the art of inventing and judging. He stated his conviction that an alphabet might be formed, and of this alphabet such words as would afford a language capable of giving mathematical precision to all the sciences.

1917 Monist 27 45 His universal characteristic..was to be a logical calculus replacing concepts by combinations of signs, and..was not merely to furnish demonstrations of propositions but to be the means of discovering new ones.

2000 S. Clucas tr. P. Rossi Logic & Art of Memory Pref. p. xix Immanuel Kant..compared Leibniz's characteristic to the..dreams of the alchemists.

4. The relationship between two related parameters of a device, typically input and output; a graphical representation of this. Cf. characteristic curve n. at Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > graph or diagram > [noun] > graph > showing specific relationship

characteristic1881

characteristic curve1881

time curve1883

luminosity curve1886

hysteresis curve1890

hysteresis loop1892

time-distance1892

solidus1901

power curve1908

log log1910

Russell diagram1922

creep curve1931

power curve1932

Hertzsprung–Russell diagram1939

Petersen graph1947

utility curve1948

tournament graph1959

offset1987

1881 tr. M. Deprez in Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 65 449 The characteristic [Fr. La caractéristique] having been determined as indicated, it is sufficient to learn the quantity of the current generated under the known circumstances, to draw through the origin a right line.

1930 Engineering 6 June 748/2 The boiler feed pumps were all rotary pumps and had a very flat characteristic.

1958 S. W. Amos & D. C. Birkinshaw Television Engin. II. i. 31 The phase-frequency characteristic of a practical amplifier.

2010 M. Grundmann Physics Semiconductors (ed. 2) xx. 584 The characteristic is linear between about 1 and 220V.

B. adj.

a. That serves to identify or to indicate the essential quality or nature of a person or thing; distinctive; typical. Also (in predicative use) with of.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > representation > physical representation of abstraction > symbolizing > symbolizing by a type > [adjective]

figurative1398

characteristical1591

typic1610

typical1612

characterical?c1622

characteristic1647

umbratile1665

typeful1889

typal1893

1647 Bp. J. Taylor Θεολογία Ἐκλεκτική i. 11 The Characteristick note of a Christian from a Heretick, or a Jew.

1665 J. Spencer Disc. Vulgar Prophecies iv. 65 in Disc. Prodigies (ed. 2) The Characteristick note between false and true Prophets.

1721 R. Bentley Proposals New Ed. Greek Test. 10 This very thing is characteristic of our Author.

1762 E. Gibbon Jrnl. 5 Sept. (1929) 135 The Characteristic letter, and the termination of verbs.

1793 T. Holcroft tr. J. C. Lavater Ess. Physiognomy (abridged ed.) xxi. 110 Fleshy lips, broad chin, and large ears, I believe to be characteristic of the Dutchman.

1839 T. Chalmers Let. in W. Hanna Mem. T. Chalmers (1850) IV. 74 The minister I saw smiling and smerkling, in his own characteristic way, at the more ludicrous passages.

1880 S. Haughton Six Lect. Physical Geogr. iii. 83 Shells characteristic of the Triassic and Jurassic periods.

1920 Sabbath Recorder 19 Jan. 67 This was a characteristic answer, showing the sorrow-sobbing heart of a great and true man.

1965 H. Geldzahler Amer. Painting in 20th Cent. vii. 126 [Florine] Stettheimer's paintings now constitute a unique visual record of this world from 1915, when the first of her characteristic work was done.

2012 Atlantic Mar. 75/2 The passive-voiced, jargony sentences characteristic of the social sciences.

b. Mathematics. Designating various concepts that serve to convey or represent information about an entity. Cf. characteristic equation n.

ΚΠ

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Characteristic Triangle of a Curve, in the higher Geometry, is a rectilinear right-angled Triangle, whose Hypothenuse is a part of the Curve, not sensibly different from a right Line.

1850 J. J. Sylvester in Philos. Mag. 37 363 In certain cases a function may be expressed in terms of a fewer number of orders than it has letters, as when the general characteristic function of a conic becomes that of a pair of crossing lines or a pair of coincident lines.

1879 W. Thomson & P. G. Tait Treat. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) I: Pt. i. §331 The function thus determined and employed to express the solution of the kinetic problem was called the Characteristic Function.

1950 W. E. Deming Some Theory of Sampling iv. 104 A rigorous proof of the approach to normality involves the use of the characteristic function.

1958 R. V. Andree Sel. Mod. Abstr. Algebra ix. 195 In quantum mechanics and elsewhere, the terms latent roots, proper value, eigenvalue, and eigenwerte are often used in place of characteristic root.

1972 M. Kline Math. Thought xxii. 537 This set of planes envelopes a cone with vertex at (x , y , z ). This is the characteristic cone or Monge cone at (x , y , z ).

2004 A. Ullah Finite Sample Econometrics iii. 73 One can first obtain the characteristic function based on the asymptotic expansion of the statistic.

c. Physics. Designating radiation, esp. X-rays, having peaks in wavelengths particular to the element from which it is emitted.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactivity > [adjective] > with specific wavelengths

characteristic1898

1898 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 24 Dec. 19229/3 The chemist only needed the rays of light from that body when heated to such a temperature as to make it emit its characteristic radiation.

1908 C. G. Barkla & C. A. Sadler in London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 16 571 A characteristic homogeneous radiation was emitted by a metal when the primary beam to which the metal was exposed was of more penetrating type than the characteristic radiation.

1938 R. W. Lawson tr. G. von Hevesy & F. A. Paneth Man. Radioactivity (ed. 2) v. 63 The characteristic rays of an element are related in a simple manner to the atomic number.

1965 Science 23 July 448/2 Sodium or potassium atoms present in the glow will emit their characteristic radiation.

2012 M. F. L'Annunziata Handbk. Radioactivity Anal. (ed. 3) xx. 1246/2 The intensity of the characteristic X-rays is determined by the activity of the irradiation source and the concentration of the material being evaluated.

2. Relating to, representing, or descriptive of personal character or character types. Now somewhat rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > [adjective] > sketching or outlining

characterizing1591

characteral1656

characteristic1679

1679 in T. Merke Bishop of Carlile’s Speech (Brit. Libr. copy) sig. B2^v (heading) The Characteristic Description of this Stout and Renowned Champion of Fidelity and Loyalty.

1688 S. Hill Necessity of Heresies asserted & Explained 3 [Heresy] will need some Characteristick Description, to the end, that we may at present aggravate the doubt, how so vile a Monster should become necessary to the Church.

1725 H. Gally (title) Theophrastus, Moral Characters, with notes and a critical essay on Characteristic Writings.

1770 C. Jenner Let. 5 May in D. Garrick Private Corr. (1831) I. 384 With regard to the genre, I am of opinion that an English audience will not relish it so well as a more characteristic kind of comedy.

1825 Hist. Paris from Earliest Period to Present Day II. viii. 462 It was the latter [sc. Molière] who first introduced real characteristic comedy.

1850 A. Alison Ess. Polit., Hist., & Misc. III. 540 We by no means intend to assert that..humour and characteristic description are to be excluded from his composition.

1963 R. R. Heitner German Trag. in Age of Enlightenment ii. 21 The Alexandrine verse..was an elegant and convenient cloak for..lack of ability to write natural and characteristic dialogue.

2004 A. J. Köstenberger et al. John ii. 77 Rabbis in Jesus' day likewise occasionally gave characteristic names to their disciples.

Compounds

characteristic curve n. [after French caractéristique, noun (M. Deprez 1881, in Compt. rend. hebd. de l'Acad. des Sci. 92 1153)] (a) Electronics a graph showing the relationship between two related parameters of a device, esp. current and voltage; (b) Photography a graph showing the relationship between the logarithm of an exposure time and the resulting image density.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > graph or diagram > [noun] > graph > showing specific relationship

characteristic1881

characteristic curve1881

time curve1883

luminosity curve1886

hysteresis curve1890

hysteresis loop1892

time-distance1892

solidus1901

power curve1908

log log1910

Russell diagram1922

creep curve1931

power curve1932

Hertzsprung–Russell diagram1939

Petersen graph1947

utility curve1948

tournament graph1959

offset1987

1881 tr. M. Deprez in Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 65 449 By taking the quantities of this auxiliary current as abscissæ, and the differences of potential at the terminals of the induced circuit as ordinates, there results the characteristic curve [Fr. la courbe que j'appelle caractéristique].

1891 F. Hurter & V. C. Driffield in Jrnl. Soc. Chem. Industry 10 100/2 We have shown that for every plate there exists a range of exposures during which the growth of the density is proportional to the logarithm of the exposure... The densities thus obtained, when plotted on a diagram, furnish the 'characteristic curve' of the plate.

1981 J. Monaco How to read Film (rev. ed.) ii. 95 A perfect emulsion would have a characteristic curve which was a straight line.

2000 P. Scherz Pract. Electronics for Inventors iv. 143 The equations..tend to ‘screw up’ when the currents and voltages are not within the bounds provided by the characteristic curves.

2007 M. Hurbis-Cherrier Voice & Vision xiv. 272 The characteristic curve is a graphical representation of the way a particular film stock responds to light.

characteristic piece n. [after French pièce de caractère (see character piece n. at character n. Compounds 3)] = character piece n. at character n. Compounds 3.

ΚΠ

1789 tr. J.-F. de Bourgoing Trav. Spain II. 201 These are their characteristic pieces [Fr. pieces de caractere], which, though not so well conducted as the best French pieces of the same kind.., prove in their authors an uncommon fertility of imagination.

1804 Morning Post 17 Nov. (advt.) Music at half-price... The Juvenile Gala, a characteristic Piece.., by Mr. Moreland.

1847 Athenæum 13 Nov. 1179/1 Dr. Mendelssohn's chamber music may be specified an Ottett, two Quintetts.., Studies, characteristic pieces, and ‘Lieder ohne Worte’.

1950 Musical Times May 183/2 The work is a suite of characteristic pieces that are unhampered by reminiscence and appeal only by what springs to life from their own courses.

2002 V. Langfield R. Quilter ii. 31 He..began writing a lightweight but charming characteristic piece for piano ‘Dance in the Twilight’.

characteristic polynomial n. Mathematics a polynomial that is the determinant of the matrix A − xI (where A is a given square matrix, I is the identity matrix, and x is the scalar variable), its roots being the eigenvalues of the matrix A; cf. characteristic equation n. 6.

ΚΠ

1912 G. A. Bliss in Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 13 136 If the ‘characteristic’ polynomials* f are all of degree one, then their determinant is the resultant R. [Note] *This nomenclature is due to MacMillan.

1989 W. Gellert et al. VNR Conc. Encycl. Math. (ed. 2) xvii. 379 To find an eigenvector x one must first find a root of the characteristic polynomial of A.

2006 R. Casse Projective Geom. (2009) iv. 72 The matrix A is called the companion matrix of the polynomial λ³ − aλ² −bλ − c, which is also the characteristic polynomial of A.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	characteristic
释义	characteristicn.adj. Brit. /ˌkarᵻktəˈrɪstɪk/, U.S. /ˌkɛr(ə)ktəˈrɪstɪk/ Forms: 1600s caracteristick, 1600s carracteristick, 1600s characteristique, 1600s charecteristick, 1600s charecteristique, 1600s–1700s characteristick, 1600s– characteristic. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Partly a borrowing from Greek. Etymons: Latin characteristicus; Greek χαρακτηριστικός. Etymology: < (i) post-classical Latin characteristicus distinctive, specific (12th cent.; 14th cent. in a British source), and its etymon (ii) Hellenistic Greek χαρακτηριστικός distinctive, typical < χαρακτηρίζειν characterize v. + -τικός , suffix forming adjectives from verbs (compare -ic suffix). With the use as adjective compare earlier characteristical adj.Compare Middle French caracteristique , French caractéristique (noun) distinctive mark, trait, or feature that may serve for identification (1550, earliest in specific sense ‘element which, in Greek grammar, indicates the tense of a verb form’), (adjective) distinctive, typical (1694); also Spanish característica , feminine noun (1506), característico , adjective (1685), Italian caratteristica , feminine noun (1639, earliest in the specific mathematical use at sense A. 2a), caratteristico , adjective (1691). In sense A. 2a after post-classical Latin characteristica ( H. Briggs Arithmetica logarithmica (1624) iv. 4). In the specific use denoting a universal language or calculus for presenting processes of reasoning (see sense A. 3) ultimately after post-classical Latin characteristica, feminine noun (a1676 or earlier in Leibniz in this sense, e.g. in characteristica realis (a1676 or earlier in manuscript notes by Leibniz), characteristica universalis (1679 in the title of Leibniz's Elementa characteristicae universalis, or earlier)). Although later philosophers, e.g. G. Frege, have used the terms lingua characteristica ‘characteristic language’ and lingua characteristica universalis ‘universal characteristic language’ to denote Leibniz's universal language or calculus, these terms were not used by Leibniz himself. In sense A. 4 after French caractéristique, noun (1881 in this sense: M. Deprez in Compt. rend. hebd. de l'Acad. des Sci. 92 1153, the passage translated in quot. 1881). The forms characteric and (up to the early 19th cent.) †characterick occur frequently as typographical errors for characteristic in printed sources. Compare e.g.:1654 J. Newton Institutio Mathematica 141 Master Briggs..made the Logarithmes to the Radius of sixteen: so here for conveniency and exactness both, the same Characterick is here continued.1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters p. v The general Characterics of salt.1820 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 36/2 It is the characterick of all the different kinds of small stock enumerated, that..a few well-selected parent pairs of each would soon multiply their species into any extent of stock.1891 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 5 June 603/2 A very beautiful piece of modern glass in Salisbury Cathedral..had just been completed, the principal characterics being a field in silver green, with beautiful reds.1956 Times 22 Mar. 14/2 A deep and sympathetic understanding of human nature was perhaps his chief characteric. A. n. 1. a. A distinctive mark, trait, or feature that may serve for identification; a distinguishing or essential peculiarity or quality. With of.national, ride, sex characteristic, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > [noun] > a characteristic privilegec1225 distinctionc1374 propertyc1390 tachea1400 pointa1425 specialty?a1425 difference?c1425 conditionc1460 markc1522 touch1528 specialty1532 differentia1551 character?1569 formality1570 particularity1585 peculiar1589 accent1591 appropriation1600 characterism1603 peculiarity1606 resemblance1622 propera1626 speciality1625 specificationa1631 appropriament1633 characteristic1646 discrimination1646 diagnostic1651 characteristical1660 stroke1666 talent1670 physiognomya1680 oddity1713 distinctive1816 spécialité1836 trait1864 flavour1866 middle name1905 discriminant1920 discriminator1943 1646 T. Hooker Heautonaparnumenos 5 This Doctrine of Self-denyall being the singular Dogma of Christ, above all others, He would have it here become the Characteristick of all Christians. 1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity i. 2 The most obvious circumstantial Characteristick of the Whore of Babylon. 1677 R. Cary Palæologia Chronica i. ii. i. iv. 59 These numbers..are undoubted Characteristiques..serving to discriminate one Year from another. 1729 A. Pope Dunciad (new ed.) 193 Anger, one of the Characteristics of Mr. Dennis's Critical Writings. 1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting II. iii. 146 The chapel of Lincoln's-inn has none of the characteristics of that architecture. 1812 W. Crotch Elem. Musical Composition 112 The peculiar characteristic of the piano forte is its power of varying degrees of loudness and softness. 1858 J. Doran Hist. Court Fools 125 It was the characteristic of our English kings, to be liberal to their buffoons. 1879 J. Lubbock Sci. Lect. i. 9 Color, scent, and honey are the three characteristics by which insects are attracted to flowers. 1923 W. S. Holdsworth Hist. Eng. Law (rev. ed.) iv. 405 Those two fundamental characteristics of our English constitution—the system of self-government and the rule of law. 1961 K. N. Cameron Shelley & his Circle I. p. xxxviii One cause of confusion..seemed to be the mixing of literary with nonliterary characteristics, for instance, the type and quantity of the writing by the author with the physical size, amount, and shape of the paper. 2011 D. Lipsky From Anxiety to Meltdown ii. 38 The ability or inability to make eye contact should never be a defining characteristic ruling autism in or out as a diagnosis. †b. Perhaps: a distinctive name or appellation. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1702 T. Ken Let. 29 Mar. in E. H. Plumptre Life Thomas Ken (1888) II. 121 He never uses any characterisetick in the prayers, himself, nor is present when any is read. 2. Mathematics. a. The part of a logarithm before the decimal point. Cf mantissa n. 2a. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > logarithm > [noun] > numerical elements characteristic1654 index1678 exponent1734 modulus1753 base1772 mantissa1846 M1890 1654 J. Newton Institutio Mathematica i. v. 133 Every Logarithme hath his proper Characteristick. 1687 J. Taylor Thesaurarium Mathematicae ii. 20 It will be necessary to explain the meaning of the first figure to the left hand of any Logarithm placed, Mr. Briggs calleth it a Characteristick or Index. 1798 C. Hutton Course Math. I. 148 The integral part of a logarithm, usually called the Index, or Characteristic. 1848 H. Law Gregory's Math. Pract. Men (ed. 3) i. 41 When the quantity is less than unity, the characteristic of its logarithm becomes negative. 1913 Pop. Mech. Feb. 291/2 In all logarithmic tables only the mantissa is given, as the characteristic can be easily added. 2013 D. C. Harris Exploring Chem. Anal. (ed. 5) iii. 58 The logarithm of 339 is properly expressed as 2.530. The characteristic, 2, corresponds to the exponent in 3.39 x 10². †b. The invariable anharmonic ratio of the four tangents which can be drawn to a plane cubic from any one of its own points. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1805 Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. 5 105 It is to be carefully noted which of the two signs is necessary, that a and b may have real values: because on this depends the characteristic of the reduced equation..and, consequently, whether it has three roots, or only one. 1852 G. Salmon Treat. Higher Plane Curves Index 310/1 Characteristic of a cubic. 1865 W. T. Brande & G. W. Cox Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (new ed.) I. 419/1 Since anharmonic ratios are unaltered by projection, no two cubics can be projections of one another unless they have equal characteristics. 3. A system of characters or symbols (cf. character n. 4a). Now Philosophy (in full universal characteristic): a universal language or calculus for presenting processes of reasoning, envisaged by Leibniz. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > system of writing > alphabet > [noun] staff-rewOE abecedariumOE ABCc1325 alphabet?a1475 character1569 abecedary1596 one's P's and Q's1763 characteristic1769 staverow1866 1769 tr. J. D. Michaelis Diss. Infl. Opinions on Lang. Pref. p. vi A characteristic of easier execution. 1769 tr. J. D. Michaelis Diss. Infl. Opinions on Lang. viii. 77* The written language of the Chinese..is rather a characteristic, than a language. 1825 C. F. Partington in Cent. Inventions Marquis of Worcester 38 Leibnitz considered his universal characteristic as the art of inventing and judging. He stated his conviction that an alphabet might be formed, and of this alphabet such words as would afford a language capable of giving mathematical precision to all the sciences. 1917 Monist 27 45 His universal characteristic..was to be a logical calculus replacing concepts by combinations of signs, and..was not merely to furnish demonstrations of propositions but to be the means of discovering new ones. 2000 S. Clucas tr. P. Rossi Logic & Art of Memory Pref. p. xix Immanuel Kant..compared Leibniz's characteristic to the..dreams of the alchemists. 4. The relationship between two related parameters of a device, typically input and output; a graphical representation of this. Cf. characteristic curve n. at Compounds. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > graph or diagram > [noun] > graph > showing specific relationship characteristic1881 characteristic curve1881 time curve1883 luminosity curve1886 hysteresis curve1890 hysteresis loop1892 time-distance1892 solidus1901 power curve1908 log log1910 Russell diagram1922 creep curve1931 power curve1932 Hertzsprung–Russell diagram1939 Petersen graph1947 utility curve1948 tournament graph1959 offset1987 1881 tr. M. Deprez in Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 65 449 The characteristic [Fr. La caractéristique] having been determined as indicated, it is sufficient to learn the quantity of the current generated under the known circumstances, to draw through the origin a right line. 1930 Engineering 6 June 748/2 The boiler feed pumps were all rotary pumps and had a very flat characteristic. 1958 S. W. Amos & D. C. Birkinshaw Television Engin. II. i. 31 The phase-frequency characteristic of a practical amplifier. 2010 M. Grundmann Physics Semiconductors (ed. 2) xx. 584 The characteristic is linear between about 1 and 220V. B. adj. 1. a. That serves to identify or to indicate the essential quality or nature of a person or thing; distinctive; typical. Also (in predicative use) with of. ΘΚΠ society > communication > representation > physical representation of abstraction > symbolizing > symbolizing by a type > [adjective] figurative1398 characteristical1591 typic1610 typical1612 characterical?c1622 characteristic1647 umbratile1665 typeful1889 typal1893 1647 Bp. J. Taylor Θεολογία Ἐκλεκτική i. 11 The Characteristick note of a Christian from a Heretick, or a Jew. 1665 J. Spencer Disc. Vulgar Prophecies iv. 65 in Disc. Prodigies (ed. 2) The Characteristick note between false and true Prophets. 1721 R. Bentley Proposals New Ed. Greek Test. 10 This very thing is characteristic of our Author. 1762 E. Gibbon Jrnl. 5 Sept. (1929) 135 The Characteristic letter, and the termination of verbs. 1793 T. Holcroft tr. J. C. Lavater Ess. Physiognomy (abridged ed.) xxi. 110 Fleshy lips, broad chin, and large ears, I believe to be characteristic of the Dutchman. 1839 T. Chalmers Let. in W. Hanna Mem. T. Chalmers (1850) IV. 74 The minister I saw smiling and smerkling, in his own characteristic way, at the more ludicrous passages. 1880 S. Haughton Six Lect. Physical Geogr. iii. 83 Shells characteristic of the Triassic and Jurassic periods. 1920 Sabbath Recorder 19 Jan. 67 This was a characteristic answer, showing the sorrow-sobbing heart of a great and true man. 1965 H. Geldzahler Amer. Painting in 20th Cent. vii. 126 [Florine] Stettheimer's paintings now constitute a unique visual record of this world from 1915, when the first of her characteristic work was done. 2012 Atlantic Mar. 75/2 The passive-voiced, jargony sentences characteristic of the social sciences. b. Mathematics. Designating various concepts that serve to convey or represent information about an entity. Cf. characteristic equation n. ΚΠ 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Characteristic Triangle of a Curve, in the higher Geometry, is a rectilinear right-angled Triangle, whose Hypothenuse is a part of the Curve, not sensibly different from a right Line. 1850 J. J. Sylvester in Philos. Mag. 37 363 In certain cases a function may be expressed in terms of a fewer number of orders than it has letters, as when the general characteristic function of a conic becomes that of a pair of crossing lines or a pair of coincident lines. 1879 W. Thomson & P. G. Tait Treat. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) I: Pt. i. §331 The function thus determined and employed to express the solution of the kinetic problem was called the Characteristic Function. 1950 W. E. Deming Some Theory of Sampling iv. 104 A rigorous proof of the approach to normality involves the use of the characteristic function. 1958 R. V. Andree Sel. Mod. Abstr. Algebra ix. 195 In quantum mechanics and elsewhere, the terms latent roots, proper value, eigenvalue, and eigenwerte are often used in place of characteristic root. 1972 M. Kline Math. Thought xxii. 537 This set of planes envelopes a cone with vertex at (x , y , z ). This is the characteristic cone or Monge cone at (x , y , z ). 2004 A. Ullah Finite Sample Econometrics iii. 73 One can first obtain the characteristic function based on the asymptotic expansion of the statistic. c. Physics. Designating radiation, esp. X-rays, having peaks in wavelengths particular to the element from which it is emitted. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactivity > [adjective] > with specific wavelengths characteristic1898 1898 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 24 Dec. 19229/3 The chemist only needed the rays of light from that body when heated to such a temperature as to make it emit its characteristic radiation. 1908 C. G. Barkla & C. A. Sadler in London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 16 571 A characteristic homogeneous radiation was emitted by a metal when the primary beam to which the metal was exposed was of more penetrating type than the characteristic radiation. 1938 R. W. Lawson tr. G. von Hevesy & F. A. Paneth Man. Radioactivity (ed. 2) v. 63 The characteristic rays of an element are related in a simple manner to the atomic number. 1965 Science 23 July 448/2 Sodium or potassium atoms present in the glow will emit their characteristic radiation. 2012 M. F. L'Annunziata Handbk. Radioactivity Anal. (ed. 3) xx. 1246/2 The intensity of the characteristic X-rays is determined by the activity of the irradiation source and the concentration of the material being evaluated. 2. Relating to, representing, or descriptive of personal character or character types. Now somewhat rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > [adjective] > sketching or outlining characterizing1591 characteral1656 characteristic1679 1679 in T. Merke Bishop of Carlile’s Speech (Brit. Libr. copy) sig. B2^v (heading) The Characteristic Description of this Stout and Renowned Champion of Fidelity and Loyalty. 1688 S. Hill Necessity of Heresies asserted & Explained 3 [Heresy] will need some Characteristick Description, to the end, that we may at present aggravate the doubt, how so vile a Monster should become necessary to the Church. 1725 H. Gally (title) Theophrastus, Moral Characters, with notes and a critical essay on Characteristic Writings. 1770 C. Jenner Let. 5 May in D. Garrick Private Corr. (1831) I. 384 With regard to the genre, I am of opinion that an English audience will not relish it so well as a more characteristic kind of comedy. 1825 Hist. Paris from Earliest Period to Present Day II. viii. 462 It was the latter [sc. Molière] who first introduced real characteristic comedy. 1850 A. Alison Ess. Polit., Hist., & Misc. III. 540 We by no means intend to assert that..humour and characteristic description are to be excluded from his composition. 1963 R. R. Heitner German Trag. in Age of Enlightenment ii. 21 The Alexandrine verse..was an elegant and convenient cloak for..lack of ability to write natural and characteristic dialogue. 2004 A. J. Köstenberger et al. John ii. 77 Rabbis in Jesus' day likewise occasionally gave characteristic names to their disciples. Compounds characteristic curve n. [after French caractéristique, noun (M. Deprez 1881, in Compt. rend. hebd. de l'Acad. des Sci. 92 1153)] (a) Electronics a graph showing the relationship between two related parameters of a device, esp. current and voltage; (b) Photography a graph showing the relationship between the logarithm of an exposure time and the resulting image density. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > graph or diagram > [noun] > graph > showing specific relationship characteristic1881 characteristic curve1881 time curve1883 luminosity curve1886 hysteresis curve1890 hysteresis loop1892 time-distance1892 solidus1901 power curve1908 log log1910 Russell diagram1922 creep curve1931 power curve1932 Hertzsprung–Russell diagram1939 Petersen graph1947 utility curve1948 tournament graph1959 offset1987 1881 tr. M. Deprez in Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 65 449 By taking the quantities of this auxiliary current as abscissæ, and the differences of potential at the terminals of the induced circuit as ordinates, there results the characteristic curve [Fr. la courbe que j'appelle caractéristique]. 1891 F. Hurter & V. C. Driffield in Jrnl. Soc. Chem. Industry 10 100/2 We have shown that for every plate there exists a range of exposures during which the growth of the density is proportional to the logarithm of the exposure... The densities thus obtained, when plotted on a diagram, furnish the 'characteristic curve' of the plate. 1981 J. Monaco How to read Film (rev. ed.) ii. 95 A perfect emulsion would have a characteristic curve which was a straight line. 2000 P. Scherz Pract. Electronics for Inventors iv. 143 The equations..tend to ‘screw up’ when the currents and voltages are not within the bounds provided by the characteristic curves. 2007 M. Hurbis-Cherrier Voice & Vision xiv. 272 The characteristic curve is a graphical representation of the way a particular film stock responds to light. characteristic piece n. [after French pièce de caractère (see character piece n. at character n. Compounds 3)] = character piece n. at character n. Compounds 3. ΚΠ 1789 tr. J.-F. de Bourgoing Trav. Spain II. 201 These are their characteristic pieces [Fr. pieces de caractere], which, though not so well conducted as the best French pieces of the same kind.., prove in their authors an uncommon fertility of imagination. 1804 Morning Post 17 Nov. (advt.) Music at half-price... The Juvenile Gala, a characteristic Piece.., by Mr. Moreland. 1847 Athenæum 13 Nov. 1179/1 Dr. Mendelssohn's chamber music may be specified an Ottett, two Quintetts.., Studies, characteristic pieces, and ‘Lieder ohne Worte’. 1950 Musical Times May 183/2 The work is a suite of characteristic pieces that are unhampered by reminiscence and appeal only by what springs to life from their own courses. 2002 V. Langfield R. Quilter ii. 31 He..began writing a lightweight but charming characteristic piece for piano ‘Dance in the Twilight’. characteristic polynomial n. Mathematics a polynomial that is the determinant of the matrix A − xI (where A is a given square matrix, I is the identity matrix, and x is the scalar variable), its roots being the eigenvalues of the matrix A; cf. characteristic equation n. 6. ΚΠ 1912 G. A. Bliss in Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 13 136 If the ‘characteristic’ polynomials* f are all of degree one, then their determinant is the resultant R. [Note] This nomenclature is due to MacMillan. 1989 W. Gellert et al. VNR Conc. Encycl. Math.* (ed. 2) xvii. 379 To find an eigenvector x one must first find a root of the characteristic polynomial of A. 2006 R. Casse Projective Geom. (2009) iv. 72 The matrix A is called the companion matrix of the polynomial λ³ − aλ² −bλ − c, which is also the characteristic polynomial of A. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.adj.1646
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