character sb. (in R3 III. i. 81 “chara'cter,” as often in 16th-17th cent.; the foll. uses are not pre-S.)
1.
in collective
sing. used=writing, printing
Tim. V. iii. 6
“the character I'll take
with wax,”
Sonn. lix. 8
“Since mine at first in
character was done.”
2.
handwriting Meas. IV. ii. 208, Tw.N. V. i. 358, Wint. V. ii. 39,
Ham. IV. vii. 51
“Know you the
hand?—'Tis Hamlet's
character.”
3.
cipher for secret
correspondence (fig.) Meas. I. i.
27*
“There is a kind of character
in thy life.”
4.
face or features as
betokening moral qualities Tw.N. I. ii.
49, Cor. II. i. 72,
V. iv. 29
“I paint him in the
character.”
