# characterize

Pronunciation: US say "KAIR-uhk-tuh-ryz" /ˈkɛɹəktəɹaɪz/; UK say "KA-ruhk-tuh-ryz" /ˈkæɹəktəɹaɪz/

## Verb

1. To depict or describe someone or something in a particular way, often negatively.
   - Simple: To describe someone or something in a certain way, often a bad or unfair way.
   - _The report characterizes the company's response as slow and inadequate._
   - _Opponents tried to characterize her as out of touch with ordinary voters._
2. To be typical of; to be a distinguishing feature or quality of.
   - Simple: To be a typical quality or feature of something or someone.
   - _Sharp wit and dry humor characterize her writing._
   - _The instability that characterized the postwar years gradually gave way to steady growth._
3. To determine the characteristics or distinctive properties of something.
   - Simple: To study something carefully to find out what it is like.
   - _Researchers used X-ray diffraction to characterize the crystal structure of the sample._
   - _Geologists characterized the soil at several depths before construction began._

## Origin

This comes from Medieval Latin charactērizō, from Ancient Greek χαρακτηρίζω (kharaktērízō, "to designate by a characteristic mark"), from χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, "a mark, character"). It can be analyzed as "character" plus the suffix "-ize."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/characterize (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).