Etymograph

English

bicharacter

Bicharacter comes from Old French caractere ‘mark’, from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ ‘instrument used for engraving’, and perhaps ultimately from χάραξ ‘pointed stake’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχάραξ1khárax‘pointed stake’uncertain
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχαράσσω2kharássō‘to engrave, carve, write, draw, stamp’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχαρακτήρ2kharaktḗr‘instrument used for engraving’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcharactēr2‘characteristic, mark, character, style’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400caractere2‘mark’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500caracter2
  7. English1500–presentcharacter2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2015bicharacter2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek χαράσσω, which cites Beekes, Pokorny
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English bicharacter
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Daniel de-la-Concepción, Universal enveloping algebras for Malcev color algebras: “In this paper we give a construction of the…”.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχάραξWiktionary, Ancient Greek χαράσσω, which cites Beekes, Pokornykhárax‘pointed stake’uncertain
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχαράσσωWiktionary, English bicharacterkharássō‘to engrave, carve, write, draw, stamp’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχαρακτήρWiktionary, English bicharacterkharaktḗr‘instrument used for engraving’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcharactērWiktionary, English bicharacter‘characteristic, mark, character, style’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400caractereWiktionary, English bicharacter‘mark’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500caracterWiktionary, English bicharacter
  7. English1500–presentcharacterWiktionary, English bicharacter
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2015bicharacterWiktionary, English bicharacter. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Daniel de-la-Concepción, Universal enveloping algebras for Malcev color algebras: “In this paper we give a construction of the…”

Linked words

through Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ ‘instrument used for engraving’

characteristic, gash, characterize, 22 more

Today it means

noun A type of bilinear complex number

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bicharacter”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek χαράσσω. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek χάραξ / bicharacter

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