character

Plural: characters

Noun

• an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story)
  • "she is the main character in the novel"
• a characteristic property that defines the apparent individual nature of something
  • "the radical character of our demands"
• the inherent complex of attributes that determines a persons moral and ethical actions and reactions; - Herbert Spencer
  • "education has for its object the formation of character"
• an actor's portrayal of someone in a play
• a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities)
  • "a real character"
  • "a strange character"
• good repute
  • "he is a man of character"
• 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"
• a written symbol that is used to represent speech
  • "the Greek alphabet has 24 characters"
• (genetics) an attribute (structural or functional) that is determined by a gene or group of genes
• A being involved in the action of a story; a persona.
• A distinguishing feature; characteristic; trait; nature; phene.
• A complex of traits marking a person, group, breed, or type.
• Strength of mind; resolution; independence; individuality; moral strength.
• A unique or extraordinary individual; a person characterized by peculiar or notable traits, especially charisma.
• A written or printed symbol, or letter.
• Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the particular form of letters used by a person or people.
• A secret cipher; a way of writing in code.
• One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character.
• A person or individual, especially one who is unknown.
• An assignment of complex numbers to each element of a group, in particular a finite abelian group.
• Quality, position, rank, or capacity; quality or conduct with respect to a certain office or duty.
• The estimate, individual or general, put upon a person or thing; reputation.
• A reference given to a servant, attesting to their behaviour, competence, etc.
• Personal appearance.

Verb

• engrave or inscribe characters on
• To write (using characters); to describe.

Examples

• "You may not like to eat liver," said Calvin's father, "but it builds character."
• a man's character for truth and veracity
• A single locus governing the petal colour character was detected on the linkage group A2.
• A study of the suspect's character and his cast iron alibi ruled him out.
• an inscription in the Runic character
• He has a great deal of character.
• Her actions give her a bad character.
• in his character as a magistrate
• in the miserable character of a slave
• Julius Caesar is a great historical character.
• That bloke is such a character.
• That old guy is a real character.
• We saw a shady character slinking out of the office with some papers.
• We were not able to ascertain the character of the relationship.

Synonyms

case, character reference, eccentric, fiber, fibre, fictional character, fictitious character, grapheme, graphic symbol, lineament, part, persona, quality, reference, role, theatrical role, type

Related Words

codepoint, font, glyph, letter, pictogram, rune, symbol