Character
['kærəktə] or ['kærəktɚ]
Definition
(noun.) (genetics) an attribute (structural or functional) that is determined by a gene or group of genes.
(noun.) the inherent complex of attributes that determines a persons moral and ethical actions and reactions; 'education has for its object the formation of character'- Herbert Spencer.
(noun.) an actor's portrayal of someone in a play; 'she played the part of Desdemona'.
(noun.) a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person's qualifications and dependability; 'requests for character references are all too often answered evasively'.
(noun.) a written symbol that is used to represent speech; 'the Greek alphabet has 24 characters'.
(noun.) a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities); 'a real character'; 'a strange character'; 'a friendly eccentric'; 'the capable type'; 'a mental case'.
(noun.) good repute; 'he is a man of character'.
(verb.) engrave or inscribe characters on.
Typed by Clyde--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A distinctive mark; a letter, figure, or symbol.
(n.) Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the peculiar form of letters used by a particular person or people; as, an inscription in the Runic character.
(n.) The peculiar quality, or the sum of qualities, by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others; the stamp impressed by nature, education, or habit; that which a person or thing really is; nature; disposition.
(n.) Strength of mind; resolution; independence; individuality; as, he has a great deal of character.
(n.) Moral quality; the principles and motives that control the life; as, a man of character; his character saves him from suspicion.
(n.) Quality, position, rank, or capacity; quality or conduct with respect to a certain office or duty; as, in the miserable character of a slave; in his character as a magistrate; her character as a daughter.
(n.) The estimate, individual or general, put upon a person or thing; reputation; as, a man's character for truth and veracity; to give one a bad character.
(n.) A written statement as to behavior, competency, etc., given to a servant.
(n.) A unique or extraordinary individuality; a person characterized by peculiar or notable traits; a person who illustrates certain phases of character; as, Randolph was a character; Caesar is a great historical character.
(n.) One of the persons of a drama or novel.
(v. t.) To engrave; to inscribe.
(v. t.) To distinguish by particular marks or traits; to describe; to characterize.
Inputed by Doris
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Mark, figure, sign, emblem, letter.[2]. Constitution, quality, nature, disposition, cast, turn, bent.[3]. Person, personage, individual.[4]. Reputation, repute.
Typed by Bernadine
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Symbol, letter, nature, type, disposition, genius, temperament, cast,estimation, repute, office, reputation, part, capacity, class, order, sort,stamp, kind, quality, species, sign, tone, mark, figure, record
ANT:Vagueness, anonymousness, nondescription, disrepute
Checked by Jessie
Definition
n. a letter sign figure stamp or distinctive mark: a mark of any kind a symbol in writing &c.: writing generally handwriting: a secret cipher: any essential feature or peculiarity: nature: (obs.) personal appearance: the aggregate of peculiar qualities which constitutes personal or national individuality: moral qualities especially the reputation of possessing such: a formal statement of the qualities of a person who has been in one's service or employment: official position rank or status or a person who has filled such: a person noted for eccentricity: a personality as created in a play or novel (Shak. Char′act).—v.t. to engrave imprint write: to represent delineate or describe.—n. Characterisā′tion.—v.t. Char′acterise to describe by peculiar qualities: to distinguish or designate.—ns. Char′acterism; Characteris′tic that which marks or constitutes the character.—adjs. Characteris′tic -al marking or constituting the peculiar nature.—adv. Characteris′tically.—adj. Char′acterless without character or distinctive qualities.—ns. Char′acterlessness; Char′actery writing: impression: that which is charactered.—In character in harmony with the part assumed appropriate as a Character actor one who tries to represent eccentricities.
Checked by Gilbert
Examples
- But men of your character are mostly so independent. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- That stupendous character looked at him, in the course of his official looking at the dinners, in a manner that Mr Dorrit considered questionable. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Because, said I, his is an uncommon character, and he has resolutely kept himself outside the circle, Richard. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- My existence will be simply unendurable to me, unless I do something towards clearing my character at once. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Fanny's last meal in her father's house was in character with her first: she was dismissed from it as hospitably as she had been welcomed. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- No; Justinian is too keen a judge of character to mistake our Greek goose for a swan. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- I have been a determined character in later life, and I suppose I was then. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Defamation of character: action for damages. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Very decided character there, sir? Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- That is the way to get on, and be respected, and have a virtuous character in Vanity Fair. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- But all power of a high order depends on an understanding of the essential character, or law, of heat, light, sound, gravity, and the like. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- What character in the name of wonder did Amy choose? Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Mortimer, the gardener, who wheels the Bath chair, is an army pensioner--an old Crimean man of excellent character. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- You have heard of a man of bad character, whose true name is Compeyson? Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- He was a great genius, and a noble character, yet hardly capable of feeling or understanding anything external to his own theology. Plato. The Republic.
- There are also characters peculiar to different nations and particular persons, as well as common to mankind. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- It is therefore from the influence of characters and qualities, upon those who have an intercourse with any person, that we blame or praise him. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- A pretty list indeed, said Brougham, alluding to my characters, as advertised in the newspapers by Stockdale. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- They believe that every race which breeds true, let the distinctive characters be ever so slight, has had its wild prototype. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Each machine was operated by a clerk, who translated the message into telegraphic characters and prepared the transmitting tape by punching the necessary perforations therein. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- But he hasn't borne the Roman yoke as I have, nor yet he hasn't been required to pander to your depraved appetite for miserly characters. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- I am afraid we have changed characters, Crispin. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Elliston himself is kind enough to play one of my characters, and the others he has given to his very best performers. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Typewriters for short hand characters, and for foreign languages, and for printing on record and blank books, are also among the modern developments of this art. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Nor were such characters ideal. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- All the obnoxious characters of change and diversity thus attach themselves to doing while knowing is as permanent as its object. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- We shall not then be degraded from our true characters. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- And here's Kirby's Wonderful Museum,' said Mr Boffin, 'and Caulfield's Characters, and Wilson's. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Hence, the transmitted message was received on the tape in visible dots and dashes representing characters of the Morse alphabet. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Do you like characters of the Rousseau order, Caroline? Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
Checker: Paulette