characteristic
Americanadjective
noun
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a distinguishing feature or quality.
Generosity is his chief characteristic.
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Mathematics.
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the integral part of a common logarithm.
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the exponent of 10 in a number expressed in scientific notation.
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the smallest positive integer n such that each element of a given ring added to itself n times results in 0.
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noun
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a distinguishing quality, attribute, or trait
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maths
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the integral part of a common logarithm, indicating the order of magnitude of the associated number Compare mantissa
the characteristic of 2.4771 is 2
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another name for exponent, used esp in number representation in computing
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adjective
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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.
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Compare mantissa
Related Words
See feature.
Other Word Forms
- characteristically adverb
- noncharacteristic adjective
- noncharacteristically adverb
- quasi-characteristic adjective
- quasi-characteristically adverb
- uncharacteristic adjective
- uncharacteristically adverb
Etymology
Origin of characteristic
First recorded in 1655–65; from Greek charaktēristikós ( character, -istic )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If his defining characteristic weren’t competence, Piggy could easily insert him into a cover of “Manchild” instead of duetting with Carpenter in a performance of “Islands in the Stream.”
From Salon
The Online Safety Act requires platforms like Instagram to apply terms of service consistently, including where content mocks people based on protected characteristics, like their disability.
From BBC
If people wondered why the well-educated dead sounded unschooled, Leah explained that spirits often took on the human characteristics of the medium.
From Literature
This is an immutable characteristic of large language models.
These filaments then form a scaffold that determines the condensate's physical characteristics.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
