A character (from the Greek χαρακτήρ "engraved or stamped mark (on coins or seals), branding mark, symbol") may refer to any sign or symbol. In Semiotics, a sign is "something that stands for something else to someone in some capacity" The musical instrument is spelled Cymbal. A symbol is something --- such as an object, Picture, written word a sound a piece
Contents |
Etymology
Greek χαρακτήρ is a nomen agentis of a verb χαράσσω with a meaning "to sharpen, to whet", and also "to engrave, to carve", from a PIE root *g'ʰer- "cut" also continued in Irish gearr and (English gash is an early loan ultimately from the same Greek root). The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c The roots of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE are basic Morphemes carrying a Lexical meaning
A χαρακτήρ is thus an "engraver", originally in the sense of a craftsman, but then also used for a tool used for engraving, and for a stamp for minting coins. From the stamp, the meaning was extended to the stamp impression, Plato using the noun in the sense of "engraved mark". Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece In Plutarch, the word could refer to a figure or letter, Lucian uses it of hieroglyphs as opposed to Greek grammata (Herm. Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανός ὁ Σαμοσατεύς Lucianus c Hieroglyph ( Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " or hieroglyphics ( = grc-Grek τὰ ἱερογλυφικά 44)
Metaphorically, it could refer to a distinctive mark, Herodotus (1. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 57) using it of a particular dialect, or (1. 116) of a characteristic mark of an individual. The collective noun χαρακτηριστικά "characteristics" appears later, in Dionysius Halicarnassensis. Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Halicarnassus c 60 BC–after 7 BC was a Greek historian and teacher of Rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of
Via Latin charactēr, Old French caracter, the word passed into Middle English as caracter in the 14th century. Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of Wycliffe (1382) has To haue a caracter [. . . ] in her forhedis (Revelation 13:16) for the mark of the beast (translating χάραγμα "imprinted or branded mark"). The Number of the Beast is a concept from the Book of Revelation of the New Testament of the Christian Bible.
Grapheme
The word was used in the sense of letter or grapheme by William Caxton, referring to the Phoenician alphabet, The Fenyces were the fyrst inuentours of caracteris dyfferencing that one fro that other, of whiche were fourmed lettres for to write (Eneydos 6. In Typography, a grapheme is the fundamental unit in written language. The Phoenician alphabet is a continuation of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, by convention taken to originate around 1050 BC 25). As in Greek, the word was used especially for foreign or mysterious graphemes, such as Chinese Syriac or Runic ones, as opposed to the familiar letters; in particular of shorthand (in David Copperfield (chapter 38) sarcastically of shorthand, "a procession of new horrors, called arbitrary characters; the most despotic characters I have ever known"), and since 1949 in computing (see character (computing). A Chinese character, also known as a Han character ( is a Logogram used in writing Chinese (hanzi Japanese ( The Syriac alphabet is a Writing system used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC. David Copperfield or The Personal History Adventures Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (which he never meant to publish For other uses see Character. In Computer and machine-based Telecommunications terminology a character is a unit of
As a collective noun, the word can refer to writing or printing in general (Shakespeare's sonnet nr. 59: Since minde at first in carrecter was done, viz. Shakespeare's sonnets, or simply The Sonnets, is a collection of Poems in Sonnet form written by William Shakespeare that deal with Sonnet 59 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. "since thought was first put in writing").
Esotericism and magic
- Further information: Diabolical signature
The word in Renaissance magic came to refer to any astrological, cabbalistic or magical sign or symbol. In Demonology, a diabolical signature (from diabolus, the Latin for Devil which comes from the Greek 'diabolos' for devil is the Signature of Renaissance Humanism (15th and 16th century saw a resurgence in Hermeticism and Neo-Platonic varieties of Ceremonial magic Related is the Sacramental character of Catholic doctrine. According to Roman Catholic Church teaching a sacramental character is an indelible spiritual mark (the meaning of the word character in Latin Famously, John Dee designed his Monas Hieroglyphica in 1564. John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609 was a noted English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, occultist The Monas Hieroglyphica (or Hieroglyphic Monad) is an esoteric Symbol invented and designed by John Dee, the Elizabethan Magus and Court
In the 19th century, this sense of the word appears mainly in Romantic poetry, such as Sir Walter Scott's Lay of the last minstrel (1805), where "A hallow'd taper shed a glimmering light / On mystic implements of magic might; On cross, and character, and talisman," (6. Sir Walter Scott 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 &ndash 21 September 1832 was a prolific Scottish Historical novelist and Poet popular throughout 17).
Semiotics and epistemology
- Further information: sign (semiotics)
From the esoteric or mystical meanings, Early Modern learned authors abstracted a notion of Character as a code or hierarchical system that embodied all knowledge or all of reality, or a written representation of a philosophical language that would recover the "true names" lost in the confusion of tongues. In Semiotics, a sign is "something that stands for something else to someone in some capacity" Reality, in everyday usage means "the state of things as they actually exist" A philosophical language is any Constructed language that is constructed from First principles, like a logical language, but may entail a strong claim of A true name is a Name of a thing or being that expresses or is somehow identical with its true Nature. The confusion of tongues ( confusio linguarum) is the initial fragmentation of human languages described in the Book of Genesis 111–9 as a result of the construction
This idea had currency as a kind of epistemological philosophers' stone for about a century, from the mid 17th century, with Francis Lodwick (1642) and John Wilkins's Essay towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language (1668), to the later 18th century and the Encyclopédie where in a long entry under the heading Charactère, D'Alembert critically reviewed such projects of the past century. The philosopher's stone (lapis philosophorum Greek: Chrysopoeia) is a Legendary substance supposedly capable of turning inexpensive Metals Francis Lodwick (or Lodowick) (1619&ndash1694 was a pioneer of ''a priori'' languages (what in the seventeenth century was called a ' Philosophical language John Wilkins ( January 1, 1614 - November 19, 1672) was an English clergyman and author Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences des arts et des métiers (Encyclopedia or a systematic dictionary of the sciences arts and crafts was a general
Personality
From the 17th century, the term refers to a persona in a theatrical play, and from the 18th century, to a personality or individual, considered as possessor of a certain role or certain faculties, often slightly derogatory ("quite a character"), and hence an individual's peculiar traits, a personal "character" or character structure (moral character). A persona, in the word's everyday usage is a social Role or a character played by an Actor. A character structure is a system of relatively permanent motivational and other traits that are manifested in the specific ways that an individual relates and reacts to others to various Moral character or character is an evaluation of a particular individual's moral qualities
"Characters" is also a term for a literary genre describing such personal traits; notable examples are The Characters of Theophrastus, of La Bruyere, and in English, of Joseph Hall (1574-1656) and Sir Thomas Overbury. Theophrastus ( Greek:; 371 – c 287 BC a Greek native of Eressos in Lesbos, was the successor of Aristotle in the Peripatetic Joseph Hall may refer to Joseph Hall (bishop (1574–1656 Joseph Hall (metallurgist (1789–1862 Joseph N Sir Thomas Overbury (1581 &ndash 15 September 1613) English Poet and essayist and the victim of one of the most sensational crimes in English history
References
See also
The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English A Greek-English Lexicon is a standard lexicographical work of the Ancient Greek language, begun in the nineteenth century and now in A glyph is an element of writing Two or more glyphs representing the same symbol whether interchangeable or context-dependent are called Allographs the abstract unit they Hieroglyph ( Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " or hieroglyphics ( = grc-Grek τὰ ἱερογλυφικάDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic