WordWeb Online

1. Describe or portray the character or the qualities or peculiarities of
   "You can characterize his behaviour as that of an egotist"; "This poem can be characterized as a lament for a dead lover"
   - qualify, characterise [Brit]
    
2. Be characteristic of
   "What characterizes a Venetian painting?"
   - characterise [Brit]

Derived forms: characterized, characterizes, characterizing

See also: character, characterization

Type of: differentiate, distinguish, mark, remember, think of