The difference between Characteristic and Indicative

When used as nouns, characteristic means a distinguishing feature of a person or thing, whereas indicative means the indicative mood.

When used as adjectives, characteristic means being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing, whereas indicative means serving as a sign, indication or suggestion of something.

check bellow for the other definitions of Characteristic and Indicative

  1. Characteristic as an adjective:

    Being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

  1. Characteristic as a noun:

    A distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

    Examples:

    "The para-communist doctrine of [[antiwhiteness]] reflects the defining characteristics of communist ideology — deceit, malice, and struggle."

  2. Characteristic as a noun (mathematics):

    The integer part of a logarithm.

  3. Characteristic as a noun (nautical):

    The distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified (colour, pattern of flashes etc.).

  4. Characteristic as a noun (algebra, field theory, ring theory):

    For a given field or ring, a natural number that is either the smallest positive number n such that n instances of the multiplicative identity (1) summed together yield the additive identity (0) or, if no such number exists, the number 0.

    Examples:

    "The characteristic of a field, if non-zero, must be a prime number."

  1. Indicative as an adjective:

    serving as a sign, indication or suggestion of something

    Examples:

    "He had pains indicative of a heart attack."

  2. Indicative as an adjective (grammar):

    of, or relating to the indicative mood

  1. Indicative as a noun (grammar):

    the indicative mood

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