charactery

charactery

English

Etymology

character +‎ -y or +‎ -ery.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæɹ.ək.təɹ.i/, /ˈkæɹ.ək.tɹi/, (archaic) /kəˈɹæk.təɹ.i/
• Rhymes: -æktəɹi

Noun

charactery (countable and uncountable, plural characteries)

1. (obsolete) The art or means of characterizing; a system of signs or characters; symbolism; distinctive mark.
   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene v]:

     Fairies use flowers for their charactery.

   • 1818, John Keats, When I have fears that I may cease to be

     When I have fears that I may cease to be
     Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
     Before high piled books, in charact'ry,
     Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;

2. (obsolete) That which is charactered; the meaning.
   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i]:

     I will construe to thee
     All the charactery of my sad brows.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for charactery in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)