character

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English caracter, from Old French caractere, from Latin character, from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “type, nature, character”), from χαράσσω (kharássō, “to engrave”). Doublet of charakter. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkæ.ɹɪk.tə/ (General American) (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA(key): /ˈkæɹ(ə)ktɚ/ (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA(key): /ˈkɛɹ(ə)ktɚ/ Hyphenation: char‧ac‧ter, cha‧rac‧ter === Noun === character (countable and uncountable, plural characters) (countable) A being involved in the action of a story; a persona. Hyponyms: protagonist, main character, antagonist (countable) A distinguishing feature; characteristic; trait; nature; phene. (uncountable, countable) A complex of traits marking a person, group, breed, or type. (uncountable) Strength of mind; resolution; independence; individuality; moral strength. (countable) A unique or extraordinary individual; a person characterized by peculiar or notable traits, especially charisma. (countable) A written or printed symbol, or letter. (countable, dated) Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the particular form of letters used by a person or people. (countable, dated) A secret cipher; a way of writing in code. (countable, computing) One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character. (countable, informal) A person or individual, especially one who is unknown. (countable, mathematics) 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 {\displaystyle \mathbb {C} } ). (countable) Quality, position, rank, or capacity; quality or conduct with respect to a certain office or duty. (countable, dated) The estimate, individual or general, put upon a person or thing; reputation. (countable, dated) A reference given to a servant, attesting to their behaviour, competence, etc. (countable, obsolete) Personal appearance. ==== Usage notes ==== Character is sometimes used interchangeably with reputation, but the two words have different meanings; character describes the distinctive qualities of an individual or group while reputation describes the opinions held by others regarding an individual or group. Character is internal and authentic, while reputation is external and perceived. ==== Hyponyms ==== ==== Derived terms ==== English terms starting with “character” ==== Descendants ==== → Scottish Gaelic: caractar → Japanese: キャラクター → Korean: 캐릭터 (kaerikteo) ==== Translations ==== === Verb === character (third-person singular simple present characters, present participle charactering, simple past and past participle charactered) (obsolete) To write (using characters); to describe. === See also === codepoint font glyph letter symbol rune pictogram == Latin == === Etymology === From the Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr). === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [kʰaˈrak.teːr] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [kaˈrak.ter] === Noun === charactēr m (genitive charactēris); third declension branding iron brand (made by a branding iron) characteristic, mark, character, style Synonyms: ingenium, nātūra, habitus, mēns, indolēs ==== Declension ==== Third-declension noun. ==== Descendants ==== Asturian: calter → Asturian: caráuter (learned) Hungarian: karakter Galician: caritel; → carácter → Old Irish: carachtar, caractar, cáractar, cárachtarIrish: carachtar Italian: carattere → Old Czech: charakter (learned)Czech: charakter Old French: caractere→ English: character→ Scottish Gaelic: caractar→ Japanese: キャラクター→ Korean: 캐릭터 (kaerikteo)French: caractère→ Romanian: caracter→ Turkish: karakter → Old Slovak: charakter (learned)Slovak: charakter → Polish: charakter, harakter, karakter (Middle Polish) (learned)→ Kashubian: charakter→ Old Ruthenian: характеръ (xarakter)Belarusian: хара́ктар (xaráktar)Ukrainian: хара́ктер (xarákter)→ Russian: хара́ктер (xarákter)→ Silesian: karakter (through Middle Polish "karakter") Portuguese: caractere, carácter Romanian: caracter Sicilian: caràttiri Spanish: carácter === References === “character”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “character”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. character in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎[4], pre-publication website, 2005-2016 == Portuguese == === Noun === character m (plural characteres) pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of caráter