char

Back-formation from charcoal.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tʃɑː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /tʃɑɹ/, [tʃɑɹ], [tʃɑ˞]
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

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.

• coal
• blacken, scorch, sear, singe

char (plural chars or char)

1. A charred substance.

• charcoal

Origin unknown, perhaps from Celtic.

• charr

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tʃɑː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /tʃɑɹ/, [tʃɑɹ], [tʃɑ˞]
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

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.”

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.

• chare

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tʃɑː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /tʃɑɹ/, [tʃɑɹ], [tʃɑ˞]
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

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.
   • William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act V, Scene II.

     When thou hast done this chare, I’ll give thee leave to play till doomsday.

4. A charlady, a woman employed to do housework; cleaning lady.

   I had to scrub the kitchen today, because the char couldn't come.

• charlady
• charwoman
• cleaning lady
• cleaning woman

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, She explained that she was the commissionaire's wife, who did the charing, and I gave her the order for the coffee. — Arthur Conan Doyle, ‘The Naval Treaty’ (Norton 2005, p.677)
   • 1897, W.S. 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.
   • Old proverb

     That char is chared, as the good wife said when she had hanged her husband.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Nares to this entry?)

4. To work or hew (stone, etc.).

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Oxf. Gloss to this entry?)

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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tʃɑː/, /kɛə/, /kɑː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /tʃɑɹ/, /kɛɹ/, /kɑɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

char (plural chars)

1. (computing, programming) A character (text element such as a letter or symbol).
   • Java programming language tutorial

     A Unicode code unit is a 16-bit char value. For example, imagine a String that contains the letters "abc" followed by the Deseret LONG I, which is represented with two char values. That string contains four characters, four code points, but five code units.

   • 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.

   • 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.

• signed char
• unsigned char

• byte
• double
• float
• int
• long
• short

Non-rhotic spelling of cha.

char (uncountable)

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

• -arch, ARCH, Rach, arch, arch-, arch., rach

• char baki

• Hyphenation: char

char

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

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃar/

• Audio

  (file)

char

1. H-system spelling of ĉar

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

• IPA^(key): /ʃaʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

char m (plural chars)

1. chariot, carriage
2. (military) tank
3. (Quebec, Louisiana, Cajun French, Missouri) car, auto

   Synonym: voiture

4. (Louisiana) train car

   Synonym: voiture

• “char” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

cha +‎ -r

• IPA^(key): [xaɾˠ]

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.

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

• níor (used in Munster Irish, Connacht Irish, and some varieties of Ulster Irish)

• cha (used before other tenses)

• chair

From Old French char, charn.

char f (plural chars)

1. flesh

• French: chair

• IPA^(key): /tʃar/
• Rhymes: -ar

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

• car
• carn (early Old French)
• charn (early Old French)

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

1. (anatomy) flesh (tissue from an animal in general)
   • 12^th 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)

• Middle French: char, chair
  • French: chair

From Latin carrus.

• carr

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

1. cart

• carre f

• French: char

char f (plural chara)

1. grass
2. field

From Latin cārus.

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

1. dear

• IPA^(key): /χar/

char m

1. aspirate mutation of car (“car”)