the act of discrediting or detracting from someone's reputation (especially by slander); "let it be no detraction from his merits to say he is plainspoken"
any quality or characteristic that gains a person a favorable reception or acceptance or admission; "her pleasant personality is already a recommendation"; "his wealth was not a passport into the exclusive circles of society"
something (as a course of action) that is recommended as advisable
something that recommends (or expresses commendation) of a person or thing as worthy or desirable
southeastern European plant cultivated for its fragrant purplish flowers and round flat papery silver-white seedpods that are used for indoor decoration
the activity of putting something in written form; "she did the thinking while he did the writing"
the act of creating written works; "writing was a form of therapy for him"; "it was a matter of disputed authorship"
letters or symbols written or imprinted on a surface to represent the sounds or words of a language; "he turned the paper over so the writing wouldn't show"; "the doctor's writing was illegible"
the work of a writer; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet (especially when considered from the point of view of style and effect); "the writing in her novels is excellent"; "that editorial was a fine piece of writing"
(usually plural) the collected work of an author; "the idea occurs with increasing frequency in Hemingway's writings"
the repetition of an experiment in order to test the validity of its conclusion; "scientists will not believe an experimental result until they have seen at least one replication"
(law) a pleading made by a plaintiff in reply to the defendant's plea or answer
(genetics) the process whereby DNA makes a copy of itself before cell division
the act of referring or consulting; "reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer"
the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to; "the extension of `satellite of Mars' is the set containing only Demos and Phobos"
the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to; "he argued that reference is a consequence of conditioned reflexes"
a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to; "he carried an armful of references back to his desk"; "he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation"
(genetics) an attribute (structural or functional) that is determined by a gene or group of genes
the inherent complex of attributes that determine a persons moral and ethical actions and reactions; "education has for its object the formation of character"- Herbert Spencer
an actor's portrayal of someone in a play; "she played the part of Desdemona"
a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person's qualifications and dependability; "requests for character references are all to often answered evasively"
a written symbol that is used to represent speech; "the Greek alphabet has 24 characters"
a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities); "a real character"; "a strange character"; "a friendly eccentric"; "the capable type"; "a mental case"