characteristic vs idiosyncrasy

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. 

idiosyncrasy

noun
  • A peculiarity that serves to distinguish or identify. 

  • A peculiar individual reaction to a generally innocuous substance or factor. 

  • A language or behaviour that is particular to an individual or group. 

  • A behavior or way of thinking that is characteristic of a person. 

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