ABSTRACT
The Greek term kharaktēr signifies three principal, and related, sets of ideas: (1) the literal sense of ‘that which is cut in’ or ‘marked’, the ‘impress’ or ‘stamp’ on, for example, coins and seals; (2) the metaphorical sense of the ‘mark’ or ‘token impressed on’ a person or thing, a ‘characteristic’ or ‘distinctive mark’; (3) a ‘likeness’, ‘image’ or ‘exact representation’ (Liddell and Scott, s.v.). Its transliteration is first used in English to denote ‘a personality in a novel or a play’ in 1749 (The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, s.v.).
