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Characteristic vs Inherent - What's the difference?

characteristic | inherent |

As adjectives the difference between characteristic and inherent

is that characteristic is being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing while inherent is inherent.

As a noun characteristic

is a distinguishable feature of a person or thing.

characteristic

English

(wikipedia characteristic)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.
  • * , chapter=12
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly, gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion […] such talk had been distressingly out of place.}}

    Synonyms

    * distinctive * exclusive * idiosyncratic * indicative * representative * signature * specific * typical

    Antonyms

    * uncharacteristic * untypical

    Derived terms

    * characteristic function * characteristicness

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a distinguishable feature of a person or thing
  • (mathematics) the integer part of a logarithm
  • (nautical) the distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified (colour, pattern of flashes etc)
  • (algebra, field theory) The minimum number of times that the unit of a field must be added unto itself in order to yield that field's zero, or, if that minimum natural number does not exist, then (the integer) zero.
    • A field's characteristic, if non-zero, must be a prime number.

    Synonyms

    * attribute * idiosyncrasy * mannerism * quality * tendency * trademark * trait * See also

    Derived terms

    * defining characteristic

    Related terms

    * characteristically

    See also

    * mantissa

    External links

    * *

    inherent

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (archaic)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Naturally as part or consequence of something.
  • * (Lyn Beth Neylon)
    • You are a human being. You have rights inherent in that reality. You have dignity and worth that exists prior to law.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-14, volume=411, issue=8891, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= It's a gas , passage=One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains.

    Usage notes

    * Not to be confused with inherit .

    Related terms

    * adherent * coherent * inhere * inherence * inherency * inherently

    Antonyms

    * extrinsic

    Synonyms

    * ingrained

    External links

    * *