Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Characteristic

Characteristic , adjective

[Greek {not transcribed}: compare French charactéristique.]

Pertaining to, or serving to constitute, the character; showing the character, or distinctive qualities or traits, of a person or thing; peculiar; distinctive.
Characteristic clearness of temper. — Macaulay

Characteristic , noun

1.
A distinguishing trait, quality, or property; an element of character; that which characterized. — Pope
The characteristics of a true critic. — Johnson
2.
(Mathematics) The integral part (whether positive or negative) of a logarithm.