character

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story)
  2. noun a characteristic property that defines the apparent individual nature of something
  3. noun the inherent complex of attributes that determines a persons moral and ethical actions and reactions; - Herbert Spencer

Etymology

From Middle English caracter, from Old French caractere, from Latin character, from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “type, nature, character”), from χαράσσω (kharássō, “to engrave”). Doublet of charakter.

In classic literature

Synonyms

fictional character, fictitious character

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