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 • (kharaktḗr) 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

Third declension of ὁ χᾰρᾰκτήρ; τοῦ χᾰρᾰκτῆρος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ χᾰρᾰκτήρ ho kharaktḗr	τὼ χᾰρᾰκτῆρε tṑ kharaktêre	οἱ χᾰρᾰκτῆρες hoi kharaktêres
Genitive	τοῦ χᾰρᾰκτῆρος toû kharaktêros	τοῖν χᾰρᾰκτήροιν toîn kharaktḗroin	τῶν χᾰρᾰκτήρων tôn kharaktḗrōn
Dative	τῷ χᾰρᾰκτῆρῐ tôi kharaktêri	τοῖν χᾰρᾰκτήροιν toîn kharaktḗroin	τοῖς χᾰρᾰκτῆρσῐ / χᾰρᾰκτῆρσῐν toîs kharaktêrsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν χᾰρᾰκτῆρᾰ tòn kharaktêra	τὼ χᾰρᾰκτῆρε tṑ kharaktêre	τοὺς χᾰρᾰκτῆρᾰς toùs kharaktêras
Vocative	χᾰρᾰκτήρ kharaktḗr	χᾰρᾰκτῆρε kharaktêre	χᾰρᾰκτῆρες kharaktêres
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

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^[1], 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.