Characteristic vs. Pathognomonic — What's the Difference?

Typical of a particular person, place, or thing

Pathognomonic (rare synonym pathognomic) is a term, often used in medicine, that means "characteristic for a particular disease". A pathognomonic sign is a particular sign whose presence means that a particular disease is present beyond any doubt.

A feature or quality belonging typically to a person, place, or thing and serving to identify them

Specific to a certain disease or condition, as a symptom or finding on physical examination.

The whole number or integral part of a logarithm, which gives the order of magnitude of the original number.

Specifically characteristic or indicative of a particular disease or condition.

Being a feature that helps to distinguish a person or thing; distinctive

Specially or decisively characteristic of a disease; indicating with certainty a disease; as, a pathognomonic symptom.

A feature that helps to identify, tell apart, or describe recognizably; a distinguishing mark or trait.

(Mathematics) The integral part of a logarithm as distinguished from the mantissa

(Mathematics) The least number of times the multiplicative identity in a ring needs to be added to itself to reach the additive identity, or, if the additive identity is never reached, zero. The integers have a characteristic of zero; the integers modulo 12 have a characteristic of 12.

Being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

A distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

(mathematics) The integer part of a logarithm.

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

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.

Pertaining to, or serving to constitute, the character; showing the character, or distinctive qualities or traits, of a person or thing; peculiar; distinctive.

A distinguishing trait, quality, or property; an element of character; that which characterized.

The integral part (whether positive or negative) of a logarithm.

A prominent aspect of something;

A distinguishing quality

The integer part (positive or negative) of the representation of a logarithm; in the expression log 643 = 2.808 the characteristic is 2

Any measurable property of a device measured under closely specified conditions

Typical or distinctive;