Character

| karəktə |

Definition

• noun
  • the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual
    • the distinctive nature of something
    • [mass noun] the quality of being individual in an interesting or unusual way
    • [mass noun] strength and originality in a person’s nature
    • a person’s good reputation
    • (dated) a written statement of someone’s good qualities; a testimonial
  • a person in a novel, play, or film
    • a part played by an actor
    • [with adj.] a person seen in terms of a particular aspect of character
    • (informal) an unusual or amusing person
  • a printed or written letter or symbol
    • (in computing) a symbol representing a letter or number
  • (chiefly in biology) a characteristic, especially one that assists in the identification of a species
• verb [with obj.] (archaic)
  • to inscribe or write sth.
    • to describe

Etymology

Middle English, from Old French caractere, via Latin from Greek kharaktēr (“a stamping tool”).

From the early sense of “distinctive mark” arose “token”, “feature”, or “trait” (early 16th century), and from this “a description, especially of a person’s qualities” – giving rise to “distinguishing qualities”.

In Other Languages

• Bahasa Indonesia:
  • watak (personality)
  • tokoh (person in a novel, play, or film)
  • memberi ciri (characterize)
• بهاس ملايو:
  • واتق (watak) (personality)
• Cebuano:
  • kinaiya (personality)
  • magdudula (person in art)
• Deutsch:
  • der Charakter, das Zeichen, die Persönlichkeit
  • die Ziffer (symbol)
• Español:
  • el carácter (nature)
  • el personaje (important person)
• Filipino:
  • katangian, kaasalan (nature)
  • tauhan (person in art)
• Français:
  • le caractère (nature)
  • le personnage (person in art)
• 한국어:
  • 문자 (munjan) (symbol)
  • 성격 (seong-gyeog) (personality)
  • 새기다 (saegida) (to engrave)
  • 묘사하다 (myosahada) (to depict)
• Italiano:
  • il carattere (nature; letter/symbol)
  • la caratteristica (nature)
• ភាសាខ្មែរ: តួអក្សរ (tuoaksaar) (person in art)
• Latino: character, ingenium, natura, persona, proprietas
• မြန်မာဘာသာ: စရိုက်, ရဲရင့်ခြင်း, သတ္တိ
• 日本語:
  • 文字 (もじ) (symbol)
  • 性格 (せいかく), 人格 (じんかく), 人柄 (ひとがら) (nature)
• ພາສາລາວ:
  • ລັກສະນະ (laksana) (nature)
  • ໃຈຄໍ (chai kho) (disposition)
  • ຕົວລະຄອນ (tua lakhon) (person in art)
• ภาษาไทย:
  • ลักษณะ (lạks̄ʹṇa) (nature)
  • ตัวอักษร (tạw xạks̄ʹr) (person in art)
• தமிழ்: பாத்திரம் (pāttiram)
• Tiếng Việt:
  • đặc sắc (nature)
  • vai tuồng (person in art)
• 中文:
  • 性格 (xìnggé) (nature)
  • 人物 (rénwù) (person in art)
  • 文字 (wénzì) (symbol)