χαρακτήρ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From χαράσσω (kharássō, “I scratch, engrave”) +‎ -τήρ (-tḗr, agent noun suffix).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kʰa.rak.tɛ̌ːr/ → /xa.rakˈtir/ → /xa.rakˈtir/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kʰa.rak.tɛ̌ːr/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /kʰa.rakˈte̝r/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /xa.rakˈtir/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /xa.rakˈtir/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /xa.rakˈtir/

Noun

χᾰρᾰκτήρ • (khărăktḗr) m (genitive χᾰρᾰκτῆρος); third declension

1. instrument used for engraving
2. person who engraves, engraver
3. impress, stamp, seal
4. reproduction, representation
5. figure, letter, character
6. characteristic, character
7. style

Inflection

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ χᾰρᾰκτήρ ho khărăktḗr	τὼ χᾰρᾰκτῆρε tṑ khărăktêre	οἱ χᾰρᾰκτῆρες hoi khărăktêres
Genitive	τοῦ χᾰρᾰκτῆρος toû khărăktêros	τοῖν χᾰρᾰκτήροιν toîn khărăktḗroin	τῶν χᾰρᾰκτήρων tôn khărăktḗrōn
Dative	τῷ χᾰρᾰκτῆρῐ tôi khărăktêrĭ	τοῖν χᾰρᾰκτήροιν toîn khărăktḗroin	τοῖς χᾰρᾰκτῆρσῐ / χᾰρᾰκτῆρσῐν toîs khărăktêrsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν χᾰρᾰκτῆρᾰ tòn khărăktêră	τὼ χᾰρᾰκτῆρε tṑ khărăktêre	τοὺς χᾰρᾰκτῆρᾰς toùs khărăktêrăs
Vocative	χᾰρᾰκτήρ khărăktḗr	χᾰρᾰκτῆρε khărăktêre	χᾰρᾰκτῆρες khărăktêres
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ὁ χᾰρᾰκτήρ; τοῦ χᾰρᾰκτῆρος (Attic)

Derived terms

• χαρακτηριάζω (kharaktēriázō)
• χαρακτηρίζω (kharaktērízō)
• χαρακτήρισμα (kharaktḗrisma)
• χαρακτηρισμός (kharaktērismós)
• χαρακτηριστέον (kharaktēristéon)
• χαρακτηριστικός (kharaktēristikós)

 

Descendants

• Coptic: ⲭⲁⲣⲁⲕⲧⲏⲣ (kharaktēr)
• → Latin: character (see there for further descendants)
• Greek: χαρακτήρας (charaktíras)

References

• “χαρακτήρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “χαρακτήρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• χαρακτήρ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• G5481 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • die idem, page 222.
  • impress idem, page 423.
  • impression idem, page 423.
  • imprint idem, page 424.
  • mark idem, page 514.
  • notch idem, page 562.
  • print idem, page 641.
  • stamp idem, page 810.