char

See also: Char, čhâr, Char., and chár

English

Etymology 1

Back-formation from charcoal.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /t͡ʃɑː/ or IPA(key): [t͡ʃaː]
  • (file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /t͡ʃɑɹ/, [t͡ʃɑɹ], [t͡ʃɑ˞] or IPA(key): /t͡ʃaɹ/, [t͡ʃaɹ], [t͡ʃa˞]
  • Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

Verb

char (third-person singular simple present chars, present participle charring, simple past and past participle charred)

  1. (ergative) To burn something to charcoal.
  2. To burn slightly or superficially so as to affect colour.
Synonyms
Translations

Noun

char (plural chars or char)

  1. A charred substance.
Synonyms
Translations

Etymology 2

Unknown, perhaps from Celtic, such as Irish ceara (fiery red) (found in personal names). Or, perhaps borrowed from Middle Low German schar (flounder, dab), from Proto-Germanic *skardaz, related to *skeraną (to cut), referring to its shape. If so, related to shard.[1]

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /t͡ʃɑː/
  • (US) IPA(key): /t͡ʃɑɹ/, [t͡ʃɑɹ], [t͡ʃɑ˞]
  • Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

Noun

char (plural chars or char)

  1. One of the several species of fishes of the genus Salvelinus.
    Among other native delicacies, they give you fresh char.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English cherre (odd job), from Old English ċierr (a turn, change, time, occasion, affair, business), from ċierran (to turn, change, turn oneself, go, come, proceed, turn back, return, regard, translate, persuade, convert, be converted, agree to, submit, make to submit, reduce), from Proto-Germanic *karzijaną (to turn), from Proto-Indo-European *gers- (to bend, turn).

Cognate with Dutch keer (a time, turn, occasion), German Kehre (a turn, bight, bend) and kehren (to sweep) or umkehren (to return or reverse), Greek γύρος (gýros, a bout, whirl), gyre. More at chore, ajar.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /t͡ʃɑː/
  • (US) IPA(key): /t͡ʃɑɹ/, [t͡ʃɑɹ], [t͡ʃɑ˞]
  • Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

Noun

char (plural chars)

  1. (obsolete) A time; a turn or occasion.
  2. (obsolete) A turn of work; a labour or item of business.
  3. An odd job, a chore or piece of housework.
  4. A charlady, a woman employed to do housework; cleaning lady.
    I had to scrub the kitchen today, because the char couldn't come.
Synonyms
Translations

Verb

char (third-person singular simple present chars, present participle charing or charring, simple past and past participle chared or charred)

  1. (obsolete) To turn, especially away or aside.
  2. To work, especially to do housework; to work by the day, without being a regularly hired servant.
    • 1893, Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Naval Treaty" (Norton 2005, p.677)
      She explained that she was the commissionaire's wife, who did the charing, and I gave her the order for the coffee.
    • 1897, W. Somerset Maugham, Lisa of Lambeth, chapter 2
      Her husband had been a soldier, and from a grateful country she received a pension large enough to keep her from starvation, and by charring and doing such odd jobs as she could get she earned a little extra to supply herself with liquor.
  3. (obsolete) To perform; to do; to finish.
  4. To work or hew (stone, etc.)[2]

Etymology 4

Abbreviation of character, used as the name of a data type in some programming languages, including notably C.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /t͡ʃɑː/, /kɛə/, /kɑː/
  • (US) IPA(key): /t͡ʃɑɹ/, /kɛɹ/, /kɑɹ/
  • Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

Noun

char (plural chars)

  1. (computing, programming) A character (text element such as a letter or symbol).
    • 1975, Computerworld - 23 April 1975 - Page 21
      The unit is an 80-column, 30 char. /sec dot matrix printer which uses a 5 by 7 font.
    • 1997, Cay S Horstmann, Gary Cornell, Core Java 1.1: Fundamentals
      Chars can be considered as integers if need be without an explicit cast.
    • 1998, John R Hubbard, Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems of Fundamentals of Computing with C++
      Then since each char occupies one byte, these four bytes represent the three letters 'B', 'y', 'e', and the null character NUL.
    • 2004, Kari Laitinen, A Natural Introduction to Computer Programming with C#
      When a 32-bit int value is stored to a 16-bit char variable, information can be lost if the 16 most significant bits are not zeroes in the int value.
    • 2000, Ken Brownsey, The essence of data structures using C++:
      Thus string variables are pointer variables to chars.
    • 2002, Nell B. Dale, Michael McMillan, Visual Basic .NET: a laboratory course - Page 25
      .NET uses the Unicode character set in which each char constant or variable takes up two bytes (16 bits) of storage.
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
  • signed char
  • unsigned char
Translations

Etymology 5

Non-rhotic spelling of cha.

Noun

char (uncountable)

  1. (Britain) Alternative form of cha (tea)

See also

References

  1. Wright, L. (1996). Sources of London English: Medieval Thames Vocabulary. United Kingdom: Clarendon Press, p. 107
  2. 1845, Oxford Glossary of Architecture

Anagrams


Atong (India)

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Hindi चार (cār).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /t͡ɕar/

Numeral

char (Bengali script চার)

  1. four

Synonyms

References


Cebuano

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: char

Interjection

char

  1. a noncommittal reply to an untrue statement
  2. spoken after something one has said that is untrue or highly ridiculous

Esperanto

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [t͡ʃar]
  • Audio:
    (file)
  • Hyphenation: ĉar

Conjunction

char

  1. H-system spelling of ĉar

French

Etymology

From Old French char, from Latin carrus, a loan from Transalpine Gaulish. Doublet of car (coach), a borrowing from English.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃaʁ/
  • (file)

Noun

char m (plural chars)

  1. chariot, carriage
  2. float
  3. (military) tank
  4. (Acadian French, New Brunswick, Quebec, Louisiana, Missouri) car, auto
    Synonym: voiture
  5. (Louisiana) train car
    Synonym: voiture

Derived terms

Further reading


Irish

Etymology

cha + -r

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [xaɾˠ]

Particle

char (triggers lenition of the following verb)

  1. (Ulster) not
    Char dhún mé é.I did not close it.
    Char chuala mé é.I did not hear it.

Usage notes

Used only in some varieties of Ulster Irish. Used only with the past tense of regular verbs and some irregular verbs.

Synonyms

  • níor (used in Munster Irish, Connacht Irish, and some varieties of Ulster Irish)
  • cha (used before other tenses)

Middle French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French char, charn.

Noun

char f (plural chars)

  1. flesh

Descendants

  • French: chair

Old French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tʃar/
  • Rhymes: -ar

Etymology 1

From earlier charn, carn, from Latin carnem, accusative singular of carō.

Alternative forms

Noun

char f (oblique plural chars, nominative singular char, nominative plural chars)

  1. (anatomy) flesh (tissue from an animal in general)
    • 12th Century, Unknown, Raoul de Cambrai:
      Desor l'espaule li fist la char trenchier
      under his shoulder, he cut into his flesh
  2. meat (flesh of an animal intended to be eaten)
Descendants

Etymology 2

From Latin carrus.

Alternative forms

Noun

char m (oblique plural chars, nominative singular chars, nominative plural char)

  1. cart
Synonyms
Descendants

Romani

Noun

char f (plural chara)

  1. Anglicized form of ćar

Romansch

Etymology

From Latin cārus.

Adjective

char m (feminine singular chara, masculine plural chars, feminine plural charas)

  1. dear

Welsh

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /χar/

Noun

char m

  1. aspirate mutation of car (car)

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radicalsoftnasalaspirate
car gar nghar char
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.
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