Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CHAR-AC-TER-IS'T-IC, or CHAR-ACT-ER-IS'TI-CAL, a. [Gr. χαρακτηριστικος, from χαρακτηρ.]

That constitutes the character; that marks the peculiar distinctive qualities of a person or thing; as, generosity is often a characteristic virtue of a brave man. It is followed by of; as, generosity is characteristic of true bravery. The characteristic triangle of a curve, in geometry, is a rectilinear right-angled triangle, whose hypotenuse makes a part of the curve, not sensibly different from a right line. – Encyc.