Also char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal.pertaining to, constituting, or indicating the character or peculiar quality of a person or thing; typical; distinctive: Red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn.
noun
a distinguishing feature or quality: Generosity is his chief characteristic.
Mathematics.
the integral part of a common logarithm.Compare mantissa.
the exponent of 10 in a number expressed in scientific notation.
the smallest positive integer n such that each element of a given ring added to itself n times results in 0.
Origin of characteristic
First recorded in 1655–65; from Greek charaktēristikós (see character, -istic)
character dance, character defense, character disorder, characterful, character generator, characteristic, characteristic curve, characteristic equation, characteristic function, characteristic polynomial, characteristic root
What Mulan doesn’t know is that her greatest strengths are the very characteristics she’s been urged to hide — her intellect, her quick thinking, her ingenuity — and in the end they’re key to saving her country.
Toward a queer Disney canon|Emily VanDerWerff|September 4, 2020|Vox
Links and knots are topological characteristics, in that they don’t change when vortices are stretched, compressed or otherwise deformed.
An Unexpected Twist Lights Up the Secrets of Turbulence|David H. Freedman|September 3, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Sub-6GHz 5G has much better signal characteristics and has a shot of a wide rollout.
Qualcomm is bringing 5G to everyone with cheap 5G Snapdragon chips|Ron Amadeo|September 3, 2020|Ars Technica
The rule is more of the same, allowing shelter staff to judge the physical characteristics of those seeking services to decide who is sufficiently male or sufficiently female.
Trump administration targets homeless trans Americans|Jennifer Wexton|September 2, 2020|Washington Blade
Because different types of neurons have their characteristic ways of spiking—that is, the “shape” of their spikes are diverse—the chip can also be configured to detect the particular spikes you’re looking for.
Neuralink’s Wildly Anticipated New Brain Implant: the Hype vs. the Science|Shelly Fan|September 1, 2020|Singularity Hub
Most have been straightforward cases where the child came in with the characteristic rash.
Predator Doctors Take Advantage of Patients With ‘Chronic Lyme’ Scam|Russell Saunders|September 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Any person or group can be prejudiced against another group, for any reason and based on any characteristic.
What We Need Are Anti-Racists|Gene Robinson|August 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It's remarkable, too, that during his delivery, Lou showed no significant signs of slurred speech, often so characteristic of ALS.
The Stacks: The Day Lou Gehrig Delivered Baseball’s Gettysburg Address|Ray Robinson|July 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the men, not less, perhaps even more, characteristic of New England, were the Puritans of our day.
The Real Memorial Day: Oliver Wendell Holmes's Salute To A Momentous American Anniversary|Malcolm Jones|May 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And, of course, Kinney shares her love of singing with Beth—a characteristic she tries to manifest visually, too.
The Walking Dead’s Killer Diva Emily Kinney on Daryl and ‘Expired Love’|Melissa Leon|March 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And Holmes's comet of 1892 displayed only a faint prismatic band devoid of any characteristic feature.
A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century|Agnes M. (Agnes Mary) Clerke
Finally, we might seek for the characteristic anecdotes of Csar in his unexampled liberalities and contempt of money.
The Caesars|Thomas de Quincey
Mrs Desmond flung out her hands with a pretty, characteristic gesture.
Captain Desmond, V.C.|Maud Diver
The present prominence of this characteristic in Japan is still further to be accounted for by her actual recent history.
Evolution Of The Japanese, Social And Psychic|Sidney L. Gulick
"I know I shall never have courage to tell her to go," was the candid and characteristic answer.
Elster's Folly|Mrs. Henry Wood
British Dictionary definitions for characteristic
characteristic
/ (ˌkærɪktəˈrɪstɪk) /
noun
a distinguishing quality, attribute, or trait
maths
the integral part of a common logarithm, indicating the order of magnitude of the associated numberthe characteristic of 2.4771 is 2 Compare mantissa
another name for exponent, used esp in number representation in computing
The part of a logarithm to the base 10 that is to the left of the decimal point. For example, if 2.749 is a logarithm, 2 is the characteristic. Compare mantissa.