caractères

Caractères is the plural of caractère in French, a noun with several related meanings tied to signs, writing, and personality. Depending on context, it can denote the elementary signs of a writing system (letters, digits, punctuation, symbols), a set of printable signs used in typography, or traits that describe a person's temperament or character.

In typography and printing, the term refers to the letters, figures, and symbols that constitute a typeface. Historically, "caractères d'imprimerie" were movable metal or wood type used in composing text before digital typography. Sets of characters determine the available glyphs of a font, including diacritics and punctuation.

In computing and digital text, "caractères" are the basic units of encoded text. Character encoding systems such as ASCII and Unicode assign code points to individual characters, enabling storage, processing, and display of text across platforms. Issues include encoding compatibility, normalization, and font rendering.

In psychology and everyday language, caractère also means temperament or personality. Phrases such as "un caractère fort" or "traits de caractère" describe dispositions, while "avoir du caractère" conveys resilience. The plural "caractères" is used for multiple traits or multiple individuals, and in typography it can refer to symbols or glyphs beyond letters.