Charakter

See also: charakter

German

Alternative forms

  • Character, Karakter (noun 1; dated)

Pronunciation

  • (Standard, Germany) IPA(key): /kaˈraktər/, [kʰäˈʁäktʰɐ]
  • (Standard, Germany) IPA(key): /karakˈtɛr/, [kʰäʁäkˈtʰɛɐ̯] (sometimes for noun 2)
  • (northern Germany) IPA(key): [kʰaʁaktʰ(e)ə̯], [kʰæɾæktʰɛə̯] (standard, conservative)
  • Audio(file)

Etymology

From Latin character, from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “type, nature, character”), from χαράσσω (kharássō, “I engrave”).

Noun

Charakter m (genitive Charakters, plural Charaktere or Charakter)

  1. character; the totality of someone's personal qualities
  2. character, characteristic feature or nature of a thing, place, or people
    der Charakter der Stadt - the character of the city
    der Charakter des Volkes - the character of the people
    der nationale Charakter - the national character
  3. (becoming dated) character, symbol, written glyph
    • 1979, Eduard Mörike, Maler Nolten, chapter 5:
      Er zog ein mit sonderbaren Charakteren geschriebenes Heft hervor, […]
  4. (dated, possibly archaic) title, rank

Usage notes

  • The usual plural is Charaktere with the stress switching to the penultima. The regularised unchanged plural is occasionally seen and heard.

Derived terms

Noun

Charakter m (genitive Charakters, plural Charaktere)

  1. a character; role/figure in a theatrical play, video game etc., which has a noticeable character (set of personal qualities)

Declension

Further reading

Luxembourgish

Noun

Charakter m (plural Charakteren)

  1. character
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