characterize
pronunciation
How to pronounce characterize in British English:
UK [ˈkærəktəraɪz]
How to pronounce characterize in American English:
US [ˈkærəktəraɪz]
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- Verb:
- describe or portray the character or the qualities or peculiarities of
- be characteristic of
Word Origin
- characterize (v.)
- 1590s, "to engrave, write," back-formation from characterization, or else from Medieval Latin characterizare, from Greek kharakterizein "to designate by a characteristic mark," from kharakter (see character). Meaning "to describe the qualities of" is recorded from 1630s; that of "to be characteristic" is from 1744. Related: Characterized; characterizing.
Example
- 1. Google representatives declined to characterize the bill as any kind of legislative victory , saying they still had concerns about it .
- 2. Other key themes have been what exactly happened during the transition from communism and how to characterize the country 's post-soviet economy .
- 3. He believes " a saw-toothed advance " will characterize a recovery this autumn .
- 4. Moreover reflexivity and fallibility are not confined to the financial markets ; they also characterize other spheres of social life , particularly politics .
- 5. My interest in the psychology of accidents has been rekindled by a recent project in which I am involved that attempts to characterize the psychological risk factors for suicide among us soldiers .