charactercharacter

Character comes from Old French caractere ‘mark’, from Latin charactēr ‘branding iron’, and ultimately from Ancient Greek χαράσσω ‘to engrave’.

1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχαράσσω¹kharássō‘to engrave’
2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχαρακτήρ¹kharaktḗr‘type’
3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcharactēr¹‘branding iron’
4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400caractere¹‘mark’
5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500caracter¹
6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600character¹

1. ¹ Wiktionary, English character
2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, As You Like It: “O Roſalind, theſe Trees ſhall be my Bookes, /…”.