characteristic vs detail

characteristic

noun
  • A distinguishing feature of a person or thing. 

  • For a given field or ring, a natural number that is either the smallest positive number n such that n instances of the multiplicative identity (1) summed together yield the additive identity (0) or, if no such number exists, the number 0. 

  • The integer part of a logarithm. 

  • The distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified (colour, pattern of flashes etc.). 

adj
  • Being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing. 

detail

noun
  • An individual feature, fact, or other item, considered separately from the whole of which it is a part. 

  • A part considered trivial enough to ignore. 

  • A person's name, address and other personal information. 

  • A narrative which relates minute points; an account which dwells on particulars. 

  • A selected portion of a painting. 

  • A part small enough to escape casual notice. 

  • The small parts that can escape casual notice. 

  • A temporary unit or assignment. 

  • A profusion of details. 

verb
  • To clean carefully (particularly of road vehicles) (always pronounced. /ˈdiːteɪl/) 

  • To explain in detail. 

  • To assign to a particular task. 

How often have the words characteristic and detail occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )