caractéristiques

Caractéristiques is a French term that refers to the traits, properties, or attributes used to describe and distinguish something or someone. It encompasses the features of a person, object, phenomenon, or dataset, and can indicate both physical and non-physical aspects. In everyday language, it is commonly used to list what a product or service offers, as well as to summarize the essential qualities of a subject.

The word derives from characteristic, itself from Latin characteristicus and Greek charakter, and entered French through medieval and early modern usage. The plural form caractéristiques is used when several traits are being described.

Usage varies by field. In product development and engineering, the phrase caractéristiques techniques or features lists specifications such as performance, dimensions, energy consumption, and compatibility. In science, elles describe observable properties of systems or organisms, for example, morphological traits in biology or statistical properties like mean and variance in data analysis. In linguistics, characteristics may refer to phonetic, syntactic, or semantic features that define a language or a linguistic unit.

Care is often taken to distinguish characteristics from related terms. "Caractère" can refer to temperament or a letter or symbol, whereas "caractéristiques" denotes distinct attributes or measurable properties. Phrases like « caractéristiques essentielles » or « caractéristiques techniques » specify the importance or technical nature of the traits in question. See also caracteristique (singular) and the English equivalent “features.”