different between bent vs character

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: b?nt, IPA^(key): /b?nt/
• Rhymes: -?nt

Etymology 1

From bend +? -t.

Verb

bent

1. simple past tense and past participle of bend

Adjective

bent (comparative benter or more bent, superlative bentest or most bent)

1. (Of something that is usually straight) folded, dented
2. (colloquial, chiefly Britain) corrupt, dishonest
3. (derogatory, colloquial, chiefly Britain) Homosexual.
4. Determined or insistent.

   Synonym: hell-bent
5. (Of a person) leading a life of crime.
6. (slang, soccer) inaccurately aimed

7. (colloquial, chiefly US) Suffering from the bends
8. (slang) High from both marijuana and alcohol.

Synonyms

• (folded, corrupt): crooked
• (homosexual): queer

Derived terms

• bent as a nine-bob note
• bent copper

Related terms

• (determined): hell-bent

Translations

Noun

bent (plural bents)

1. An inclination or talent.

2. A predisposition to act or react in a particular way.

3. The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity.
   • 1648, John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick

     the force they have in the discharge , according to several bents

4. A declivity or slope, as of a hill.

   • Beneath the lowering brow, and on a bent,
     The temple stood of Mars armipotent

5. Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.

   • bents and turns of the matter

6. (carpentry) A transverse frame of a framed structure; a subunit of framing.
   1. Such a subunit as a component of a barn's framing, joined to other bents by girts and summer beams.
   2. Such a subunit as a reinforcement to, or integral part of, a bridge's framing.
7. Tension; force of acting; energy; impetus.
   • 1707, John Norris, Practical Discourses Upon the Beatitudes of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

     the full bent and stress of the soul

Synonyms

• (an inclination or talent): disposition, predilection, proclivity, propensity, see also Thesaurus:predilection

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English bent, benet, from Old English *beonet (attested only in place-names and personal names), from Proto-West Germanic *binut (“reed, rush”), of uncertain origin.

Noun

bent (countable and uncountable, plural bents)

1. Any of various stiff or reedy grasses.
   • 1627, Michael Drayton, "Nymphidia", 1810 reprint page 124:

     His spear a bent, both stiff and strong.

   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes’, The Phantom ’Rickshaw and Other Tales, Folio Society 2005, p. 121:

     Gunga Dass gave me a double handful of dried bents which I thrust down the mouth of the lair to the right of his, and followed myself, feet foremost [...].

   • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 9

     Clusters of strong flowers rose everywhere above the coarse tussocks of bent.

2. A grassy area, grassland.
   • c. 1500, The Ballad of Chevy Chase

     Bowmen bickered upon the bent.

3. The old dried stalks of grasses.

Synonyms

(grass): bentgrass

Translations

Dutch

Etymology

Created in analogy to Dutch ben (“am”). Modern Dutch bent has replaced the Middle Dutch verb forms bes and best (“(you) are (sg.)”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?nt/
• Rhymes: -?nt

Verb

bent

1. second-person singular present indicative of zijn; are.

References

Hungarian

Etymology

From benn, following the example of alant and lent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?b?nt]
• Hyphenation: bent
• Rhymes: -?nt

Adverb

bent (comparative bentebb, superlative legbentebb)

1. inside

   Synonym: benn

   Antonyms: kinn, kint

References

Lithuanian

Adverb

bent

1. at least.

Old Norse

Participle

bent

1. strong neuter nominative/accusative singular of bendr

Verb

bent

1. supine of benda

Scots

Alternative forms

• bynt

Etymology

From Old English beonet, compare Middle English bent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?nt/

Noun

bent (plural bents)

1. (archaic, 14th century) Coarse or wiry grass growing upon moorlands.
2. (archaic, 15th century) An area covered with coarse or wiry grass; a moor.

Derived terms

• benty (covered in bent)

Turkish

Etymology

From Persian ???? (band).

Noun

bent (definite accusative {{{1}}}, plural {{{2}}})

1. dam

English

Etymology

From Middle English caracter, from Old French caractere, from Latin character, from Ancient Greek ???????? (kharakt?r, “type, nature, character”), from ??????? (kharáss?, “I engrave”). Doublet of charakter.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k??(?)kt?/, /?kæ?(?)kt?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?kæ??kt?/
• Hyphenation: char?ac?ter

Noun

character (countable and uncountable, plural characters)

1. (countable) A being involved in the action of a story.
2. (countable) A distinguishing feature; characteristic; trait; phene.

3. (uncountable, countable) A complex of traits marking a person, group, breed, or type.

   • A man of […] thoroughly subservient character

4. (uncountable) Strength of mind; resolution; independence; individuality; moral strength.

5. (countable) A unique or extraordinary individual; a person characterized by peculiar or notable traits, especially charisma.

6. (countable) A written or printed symbol, or letter.
   • 1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech

     It were much to be wished that there were throughout the world but one sort of character for each letter to express it to the eye.

7. (countable, dated) Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the particular form of letters used by a person or people.
8. (countable, dated) A secret cipher; a way of writing in code.
9. (countable, computing) One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character.
10. (countable, informal) A person or individual, especially one who is unknown or raises suspicions.

11. (countable, mathematics) A complex number representing an element of a finite Abelian group.
12. (countable) Quality, position, rank, or capacity; quality or conduct with respect to a certain office or duty.

13. (countable, dated) The estimate, individual or general, put upon a person or thing; reputation.

    • This subterraneous passage is much mended since Seneca gave so bad a character of it.

14. (countable, dated) A reference given to a servant, attesting to their behaviour, competence, etc.
15. (countable, obsolete) Personal appearance.

Usage notes

Character is sometimes used interchangeably with reputation, but the two words have different meanings; character describes the distinctive qualities of an individual or group while reputation describes the opinions held by others regarding an individual or group. Character is internal and authentic, while reputation is external and perceived.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Pages starting with “character”.

Translations

Verb

character (third-person singular simple present characters, present participle charactering, simple past and past participle charactered)

1. (obsolete) To write (using characters); to describe.

See also

• codepoint
• font
• glyph
• letter
• symbol
• rune
• pictogram

Latin

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek ???????? (kharakt?r).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /k?a?rak.ter/, [k?ä??äkt??r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ka?rak.ter/, [k????kt??r]

Noun

character m (genitive charact?ris); third declension

1. branding iron
2. brand (made by a branding iron)
3. characteristic, mark, character, style

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Descendants

• Hungarian: karakter
• Galician: caritel; ? carácter
• Irish: carachtar
• Italian: carattere
• Old French: caractere
  • ? English: character
  • French: caractère
• Polish: charakter
  • ? Russian: ????????? (xarákter)
• Portuguese: caractere, carácter
• Sicilian: caràttiri
• Spanish: carácter

References

• character in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• character in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• character in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700?^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Portuguese

Noun

character m (plural characteres)

1. Obsolete spelling of caráter (used in Portugal until September 1911 and died out in Brazil during the 1920s).