Birth vs Characteristic - What's the difference?

birth | characteristic | Related terms |

Birth is a related term of characteristic.

As nouns the difference between birth and characteristic

is that birth is (uncountable) the process of childbearing; the beginning of life while characteristic is a distinguishable feature of a person or thing.

As adjectives the difference between birth and characteristic

is that birth is a familial relationship established by childbirth while characteristic is being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

As a verb birth

is (dated|or|regional) to bear or give birth to (a child).

birth

English

Noun

(uncountable) The process of childbearing; the beginning of life.

(countable) An instance of childbirth.

Intersex babies account for roughly one per cent of all births .

(countable) A beginning or start; a point of origin.

the birth of an empire

(uncountable) The circumstances of one's background, ancestry, or upbringing.

He was of noble birth , but fortune had not favored him.

* Prescott

elected without reference to birth , but solely for qualifications

That which is born.

* Ben Jonson

Poets are far rarer births than kings.

* Addison

Others hatch their eggs and tend the birth till it is able to shift for itself.

Antonyms

* (beginning of life) death

References

Adjective

(-)

A familial relationship established by childbirth.

Her birth father left when she was a baby; she was raised by her mother and stepfather.

Synonyms

* biological, blood, consanguineous

Verb

(en verb)

(dated, or, regional) To bear or give birth to (a child).

* 1939 ,

"I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!"

(figuratively) To produce, give rise to.

* 2006 , R. Bruce Hull, Infinite Nature , University of Chicago Press, ISBN 9780226359441, page 156:

Biological evolution created a human mind that enabled cultural evolution, which now outpaces and outclasses the force that birthed it.

Usage notes

* The term is much more common, especially in literal use.

Derived terms

* accident of birth * birth control * birthdate * birthday * birthing * birth mother * birth pangs * birth parent * birth pill * birthplace * birthrate * birthright * birthstone * birth tourism * breech birth * give birth * noble birth * virgin birth 1000 English basic words ----

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

External links

* *