# character

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkæ.ɹɪk.tə/ · frequency rank #803

## Definitions
1. A being involved in the action of a story; a persona.
2. A distinguishing feature; characteristic; trait; nature; phene.
3. A complex of traits marking a person, group, breed, or type.
4. Strength of mind; resolution; independence; individuality; moral strength.
5. A unique or extraordinary individual; a person characterized by peculiar or notable traits, especially charisma.
6. A written or printed symbol, or letter.
7. Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the particular form of letters used by a person or people.
8. A secret cipher; a way of writing in code.
9. One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character.
10. A person or individual, especially one who is unknown.
11. An assignment of complex numbers to each element of a group, in particular a finite abelian group. More precisely, a group homomorphism into the group of units of a field (usually ℂ).
12. Quality, position, rank, or capacity; quality or conduct with respect to a certain office or duty.
13. The estimate, individual or general, put upon a person or thing; reputation.
14. A reference given to a servant, attesting to their behaviour, competence, etc.
15. Personal appearance.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **charter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/character-vs-charter)
- **characters** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/character-vs-characters)

## Common misspellings (14)
`cahracter`, `ccharacter`, `chaarcter`, `characcter`, `characetr`, `characterr`, `charactre`, `charactter`, `charatcer`, `charcater`, `charracter`, `chharacter`, `chraacter`, `hcaracter`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/character