characteristicaladj.n.

1591 J. Penry tr. T. de Bèze Propositions & Princ. Diuinitie 126 All those in a word, who bereaue his body of the essential, and as Damascen speaketh of the Caracteristical properties [L. proprietates..Characteristicas] therof; that is, such as are markes of a true bodie.

1603 G. Downame Treat. conc. Antichrist i. viii. 131 Thus you see also how the Characteristicall note or marke of Antichristians which is one in substance..is diuersly expressed & testified.

1684 T. Beverley Scripture-line of Time 124 And which is very characteristical of this Period of the Witnesses Prophecy and Testimony.

1742 Secret Hist. Pandora's Box (title page) The Characteristical Parts of the Fair Sex displayed.

1792 Monthly Rev. Aug. 480 The characteristical name should be taken from the Linnéan Nomenclature.

1826 W. Scott Woodstock II. v. 120 That little characteristical touch of vanity in his narrative.

1876 W. C. Russell Is he the Man? I. 51 In his oddness a characteristical flavour which a girl would relish.

1938 Isis 29 91 There are..other languages than the Chinese and those related to it, in which a characteristical word (not only phrase) intonation is met with.

1984 Lawrence (Kansas) Jrnl.-World 10 Oct. 3/1 (advt.) Explaining the basic characteristical differences in men and women, brings new understanding of each sex and personality.

2010 J. Ruano-García Early Mod. Northern Eng. Lexis iii. 238 Norse elements confer a characteristical distinctiveness on northern English lexis.

a1628 F. Greville Life of Sidney (1652) i. 3 This Characteristicall kind of Poesie: in defence whereof he hath written so much, as I shall not need to say any thing.

1728 E. Young (title) Love of fame, the universal passion: in seven characteristical satires.

1762 Ld. Kames Elements Crit. II. xvi. 152 What is truly the most difficult, is a characteristical dialogue upon any philosophical subject.

a1795 W. Smellie (1800) (title) Literary and characteristical lives of John Gregory, M.D. Henry Home, Lord Kames. David Hume, Esq. and Adam Smith, L.L.D.

1815 J. Black tr. A. W. Schlegel Course Lect. Dramatic Art II. xii. 225 The contrast between two young heroes, Prince Henry and Percy with the characteristical name of Hotspur.

1983 B. Hutchings Poetry W. Cowper iii. 71 To assist his analysis, he has recourse again to the characteristical method: You have two servants—Tom, an arch, sly rogue, [etc.].

2006 Rev. Eng. Stud. 57 291 Greville's reshaping of Sidney's literary example to introduce his own work as ‘characteristical’ poetry in a more austere mode.

1660 H. More Explan. Grand Myst. Godliness vii. v. 300 The Characteristicals of his Person.

1861 L'Art pour Tous 15 May 34/3 The taste for garlands, plumes, and draperies is one of the most striking characteristicals of the epoch which preceded the French Révolution.

1886 Notes from Leyden Mus. 8 50 This species..distinguishes itself from the other pitvipers by having 184 ventral and 69 caudal shields. Other characteristicals are: two large plates above each eye, and a general green color.

1964 P. Anderson Trader to Stars 74 Radio range has to be pretty close on a red dwarf's planet, where ionosphere characteristicals are poor.

1681 Table of Hard Words in S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Remaining Med. Wks. Characteristical, the notes, signs or figures belonging to a character.

1820 H. V. Bolaffey Easy Gram. Primæval Lang. commonly called Hebrew xvii. 323 Hebrew Nouns..arranged according to their various formations as deriving from Verbs, and partaking of their ideas, expressed by the radical part or parts which they retain, whether simply or combined with characteristicals.