characterize, v.
(ˈkærəktəraɪz)
Also 7 car-.
[ad. med.L. charactērizāre, ad. Gr. χαρακτηρίζειν to designate by a characteristic mark, f. χαρακτήρ character; cf. F. caractériser.]
† 1. trans. To engrave, imprint, impress; to inscribe, write; to define in form or outline; also fig.; = character v. 1. Obs.
| 1591 [see characterizing vbl. n. below]. 1598 J. Dickenson Greene in Conc. (1878) 150 Waue-tossing windes characterizing feare On marble furrowes of the threatfull deepe. 1611 Coryat Crudities 405 With the effigies of a male lambe characterized vpon her belly. 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. ii. 60 Sentiments characterized and engraven in the Soul. 1811 Pinkerton Petral. II. 513 A tusk of a young elephant, half petrified, but perfectly characterized. |
† 2. To represent, portray, figure; = character v. 2. Obs.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. (1650) 288 Desolation presignified unto Greece..numerally characterized in that word. 1669 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. iii. vi. 73 Janus was caracterised, bifrons. 1710 Shaftesbury Charac. vi. ii. (1737) III. 361 Silence shou'd be distinctly characteriz'd in Hercules. |
3. To describe or delineate the character or peculiar qualities of (a person or thing).
| 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter i. 10 Let me now characterize to you the man, in whose heart there is this assurance. 1761 Sterne Tr. Shandy (1802) IV. xxii. 98, I have no thoughts..of characterizing the militating spirits of my country. 1848 Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. ii. i. vii. 87 note, I do not choose to use the expressions which alone could characterize it. |
b. with compl., now introduced by as.
| 1626 W. Sclater Expos. 2 Thess. (1629) 296 This is..a blessed vertue: characterizing vs Gods children. 1710 Hearne Collect. (1886) II. 360 They are..characteriz'd to be Scholars, Men of Piety. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 81 Here is a good man expressly characterized, as distinct from a dishonest..man. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. i. vi. 56 Might rather be characterized as ‘ravening wolves’. |
4. To mark or distinguish as a character does; to be a characteristic of.
| 1744 Berkeley Siris §191 What is it that characterizeth or differenceth the sulphurs themselves? 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne iv. 139 Every disease is characterized by a peculiar expression of the countenance. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth I. 24 That excellent taste which characterises her writings. 1876 Green Short Hist. vi. §4 (1882) 298 The semi-serious infidelity which characterized the group of scholars round Lorenzo the Magnificent. |
5. To impart character to; also absol.
| 1807 Opie Lect. Art ii. (1848) 285 To leave out all that dignifies..all that characterises. 1850 J. Leitch tr. Müller's Anc. Art §401. 534 In the forms of the Winds..ancient art displays..its capacity for characterizing with delicacy and precision. |
Hence ˈcharacteˌrized ppl. a., ˈcharacteˌrizing vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1710 Shaftesbury Charac. (1732) I. 196 Their Mimes or characteriz'd Discourses were as much relish'd as their most regular Poems. 1591 Florio Sec. Frutes Ep. Ded. 2 With new caracterisings bepasting al the posts in London. 1646 S. Bolton Arraignm. Err. 353 All discriminating characterizing names..are nothing else but badges of faction. 1702 S. Parker tr. Tully's de Finibus 54 These Illustrations and Characterizings of the Forms and Essences of Things are call'd Definitions. 1850 J. Leitch tr. Müller's Anc. Art §13 note, Exaggerated characterizing is caricature. 1870 Goulburn Cathedral Syst. i. 14 The great characterizing idea. |