A characteristic is a distinguishing feature of a person or thing. It may refer to: Computing Characteristic (biased exponent), an ambiguous term formerly used by some authors to specify some type of exponent of a floating point number Characteristic (significand), an ambiguous term formerly used by some authors to specify the significand of a floating point number Science I–V or current–voltage characteristic, the current in a circuit as a function of the applied voltage Receiver operating characteristic Mathematics Characteristic (algebra) of a ring, the smallest common cycle length of the ring's addition operation Characteristic (logarithm), integer part of a common logarithm Characteristic function, usually the indicator function of a subset, though the term has other meanings in specific domains Characteristic polynomial, a polynomial associated with a square matrix in linear algebra Characteristic subgroup, a subgroup that is invariant under all automorphisms in group theory Characteristic value, another name for the eigenvalue of a matrix Characteristic vector (disambiguation), another name for eigenvector of a matrix Characteristic word, a subclass of Sturmian word Euler characteristic, a topological invariant Method of characteristics, a technique for solving partial differential equations Other uses Light characteristic, pattern of a lighted beacon Another name for ability score in Dungeons & Dragons See also Characteristicks, a 1711 philosophical treatise by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury