Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Characterize

Char′ac·ter·ize (kăr′ăk·tẽr·īz), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Characterized; p. pr. & vb. n. Characterizing.] [LL. characterizare, Gr. χαρακτηρίζειν: cf. F. charactériser.] 1. To make distinct and recognizable by peculiar marks or traits; to make with distinctive features.

European, Asiatic, Chinese, African, and Grecian faces are Characterized. Arbuthnot.

2. To engrave or imprint. [Obs.] Sir M. Hale.

3. To indicate the character of; to describe.

Under the name of Tamerlane he intended to characterize King William. Johnson.

4. To be a characteristic of; to make, or express the character of.

The softness and effeminacy which characterize the men of rank in most countries. W. Irving.

Syn. — To describe; distinguish; mark; designate; style; particularize; entitle.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.