The difference between Characteristic and Tendency

When used as nouns, characteristic means a distinguishing feature of a person or thing, whereas tendency means a likelihood of behaving in a particular way or going in a particular direction.

Characteristic is also adjective with the meaning: being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

check bellow for the other definitions of Characteristic and Tendency

  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. Tendency as a noun:

    A likelihood of behaving in a particular way or going in a particular direction; a tending toward.

    Examples:

    "Denim has a tendency to fade."

  2. Tendency as a noun (politics):

    An organised unit or faction within a larger political organisation.

Compare words:

Compare with synonyms and related words: