Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A system of characters or symbols used to express or convey thought and meaning.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun That which constitutes or indicates character; that in anything which indicates its qualities; a character or characteristic.
- noun The act or art of characterizing; characterization by means of words or representation.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The art or means of characterizing; a system of signs or characters; symbolism; distinctive mark.
- noun obsolete That which is charactered; the meaning.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete The art or means of
characterizing ; asystem ofsigns orcharacters ;symbolism ;distinctive mark . - noun obsolete That which is
charactered ; themeaning .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word charactery.
Examples
-
It is a picture of the hero's return, good for all ages in its living outline, composed in that 'charactery' which lays the past and future open.
The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakspere Unfolded Delia Bacon 1835
-
The characters are not, perhaps, quite so charactery as some others I could name, but they're beautifully drawn.
-
Imber's voice sank in whisperful awe as he crackled the sheets 'twixt thumb and finger and stared at the charactery scrawled thereon.
-
Thankfully, I read rather a lot of good (by which I mean charactery) science fiction throughout January and February.
-
Something different from what we had been doing and go a another way that people would respond too and make it more “charactery” and slightly darker especially if we got the right cast which we did.
Exclusive Interview! Diving Deeper into Stargate Universe with Producer John G. Lenic! 2009
-
C: I thought it would be fun to play something really charactery.
-
Okay, does anyone versed in kanji or Han charactery have any clue what those last two posts were about?
Blue Beetle #25 Rogers 2007
-
His mouth was lined with charactery which told her that he had been bidden to take the hint as to the future which she had been bidden to give.
The Woodlanders 2006
-
She became very pale, and a rigid and desolate charactery took possession of her face.
A Pair of Blue Eyes 2006
-
But Adrian read with uncertain aim the charactery of her face, and might mistake. —
The Last Man 2003
rolig commented on the word charactery
What a lovely word! Here it is in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, where Brutus tells his wife, Portia, that he will soon reveal to her why is worried and pensive:
And by and by thy bosom shall partake
The secrets of my heart.
All my engagements will I construe to thee,
All the charactery of my sad brows.
(Act II, scene i)
June 11, 2015
qms commented on the word charactery
The beginning of Keats' sonnet "When I Have Fears: "
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
June 13, 2015
rolig commented on the word charactery
Wonderful! The image of a poet's work as garners (granaries) holding the grain of thought is found also in Baratynsky's poem "Autumn" (1837), though with different implications:
But you, as you enter the autumn of your days,
O plowman of the fields of life,
and your earthly lot appears before your eyes
in all its generosity,
and as the furrows of this life get ready
to offer up their bounty to you
and so reward the labor of existence,
and as the precious harvest ripens,
and you, in grains of thought, gather it in,
now at the prime of human destiny—
are you rich, too, like the tiller of the soil?
June 13, 2015