different between characteristic vs private

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ??????????????? (kharakt?ristikós), from ??????????? (kharakt?ríz?, “to designate by a characteristic mark”), from ???????? (kharakt?r, “a mark, character”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?kæ??kt????st?k/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k???kt????st?k/
• Rhymes: -?st?k
• Hyphenation: char?ac?te?ris?tic

Adjective

characteristic (comparative more characteristic, superlative most characteristic)

1. Being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

Synonyms

• distinctive
• exclusive
• idiosyncratic
• indicative
• representative
• signature
• specific
• typical

Antonyms

• uncharacteristic
• untypical

Derived terms

• characteristic function
• characteristicness

Translations

Noun

characteristic (plural characteristics)

1. A distinguishing feature of a person or thing.
2. (mathematics) The integer part of a logarithm.
   • 1830, Solomon Pearson Miles, Thomas Sherwin, Mathematical Tables: Comprising Logarithms of Numbers, […] , page 69,

     It is evident, moreover, that as the logarithms of numbers, which are tenfold, the one of the other, do not differ except in their characteristics, it is sufficient that the tables contain the fractional parts only of the logarithms.

   • 1911, F. T. Swanwick, Elementary Trigonometry, Cambridge University Press, page 60,

     As the sine and cosine are always proper fractions their logarithms are negative, i.e. have negative characteristics. When we are given an angle, it is impossible to say, from inspection of the angle, what the characteristic of the logarithm of its sine, cosine or tangent may be; so the characteristics have to be printed with the mantissae.

   • 1961, Principles and Applications of Mathematics for Communications-Electronics, [U.S.] Department of the Army, page 69,

     Similarly, the characteristic for .003 is ?3, and the characteristic for .0003 is ?4.

3. (nautical) The distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified (colour, pattern of flashes etc.).
4. (algebra, field theory, ring theory) For a given field or ring, a natural number that is either the smallest positive number n such that n instances of the multiplicative identity (1) summed together yield the additive identity (0) or, if no such number exists, the number 0.
   • 1962 [John Wiley & Sons], Nathan Jacobson, Lie Algebras, 1979, Dover, page 289,

     In this chapter we study the problem of classifying the finite-dimensional simple Lie algebras over an arbitrary field of characteristic 0.

   • 1992, Simeon Ivanov (translator), P. M. Gudivok, E. Ya. Pogorilyak, On Modular Representations of Finite Groups over Integral Domains, Simeon Ivanov (editor), Galois Theory, Rings, Algebraic Groups and Their Applications, American Mathematical Society, page 87,

     Let R be a Noetherian factorial ring of characteristic p which is not a field.

   • 1993, S. Warner, Topological Rings, Elsevier (North-Holland), page 424,

     Traditionally, a complete, discretely valued field of characteristic zero, the maximal ideal of whose valuation ring is generated by the prime number p, has been called a p-adic field. In our terminology, the valuation ring of a p-adic field is a Cohen ring of characteristic zero whose residue field has characteristic p, and consequently a p-adic field is simply the quotient field of such a Cohen ring.

Synonyms

• (distinguishing feature of a person or thing): attribute, hallmark, idiosyncrasy, mannerism, quality, tendency, trademark, trait
• See also Thesaurus:characteristic

Coordinate terms

• (part of a logarithm): mantissa

Derived terms

• defining characteristic

Related terms

• characteristically

Translations

See also

• mantissa

Further reading

• characteristic in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• characteristic in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Interlingua

Adjective

characteristic (not comparable)

1. characteristic

Related terms

• characteristica

English

Etymology

From Latin pr?v?tus (“bereaved, deprived, set apart from”), perfect passive participle of pr?v? (“I bereave, deprive”), from pr?vus (“private, one's own, peculiar”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per; compare prime, prior, pristine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?a?v?t/, /?p?a?v?t/
• Hyphenation: pri?vate

Adjective

private (comparative more private, superlative most private)

1. Belonging to, concerning, or accessible only to an individual person or a specific group.
2. Not accessible by the public.

3. Not in governmental office or employment.
4. Not publicly known; not open; secret.
5. Protected from view or disturbance by others; secluded.

6. Not traded by the public.
7. Secretive; reserved.

8. (US, of a room in a medical facility) Not shared with another patient.
9. (not comparable, object-oriented programming) Accessible only to the class itself or instances of it, and not to other classes or even subclasses.

Synonyms

• (done in the view of others): secluded
• (intended only for one's own use): personal
• (not accessible by the public):
• (not publicly known): secret

Antonyms

• public

Hyponyms

• package-private

Translations

Noun

private (plural privates)

1. A soldier of the lowest rank in the army.
2. A doctor working in privately rather than publicly funded health care.
   • 1973, Health/PAC Bulletin (issues 48-67, page 2)

     In the cities and towns of California, privates are pressuring county governments to close or reduce in size their hospitals and to pay private hospitals for the care of low-income patients. Thus everything is stacked against public hospitals.

   • 1993, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs, The implementation of employer sanctions: Hearings

     Because you are already moving people with the limitations of what we did in 1982 on the capping of Medicare, you are finding out that the privates are picking up that slack, […]

3. (euphemistic, in the plural) The genitals.
4. (obsolete) A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.
5. (obsolete) Personal interest; particular business.

   • Nor must I be unmindful of my private.

6. (obsolete) Privacy; retirement.
7. (obsolete) One not invested with a public office.
8. (usually in the plural) A private lesson.

Synonyms

• (genitals): bits, private parts

Translations

Derived terms

References

• private at OneLook Dictionary Search
• private in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "private" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 242.
• private in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Esperanto

Etymology

From privata (“private”) +? -e (adverbial ending).

Adverb

private

1. privately

German

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -a?t?

Adjective

private

1. inflection of privat:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

private

1. feminine plural of privato

Verb

private

1. feminine plural past participle of privare
2. second-person plural indicative present of privare
3. second-person plural imperative of privare

Anagrams

• prative

Latin

Verb

pr?v?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of pr?v?

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

private

1. definite singular of privat
2. plural of privat

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

private

1. definite singular of privat
2. plural of privat

Swedish

Adjective

private

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of privat.