character (n.) Look up character at mid-14c., carecter, "symbol
marked or branded on the body;" mid-15c., "symbol or drawing
used in sorcery," from Old French caratere "feature, character"
(13c., Modern French caractère), from Latin character, from
Greek kharakter "engraved mark," also "symbol or imprint on the
soul," also "instrument for marking," from kharassein "to
engrave," from kharax "pointed stake," from PIE root *gher- "to
scrape, scratch." Meaning extended in ancient times by metaphor
to "a defining quality." You remember Eponina, who kept her
husband alive in an underground cavern so devotedly and
heroically? The force of character she showed in keeping up his
spirits would have been used to hide a lover from her husband if
they had been living quietly in Rome. Strong characters need
strong nourishment. [Stendhal "de l'Amour," 1822] Meaning "sum
of qualities that define a person" is from 1640s. Sense of
"person in a play or novel" is first attested 1660s, in
reference to the "defining qualities" he