characteristic vs private

characteristic

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

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.). 

private

adj
  • Belonging to, concerning, or accessible only to an individual person or a specific group. 

  • Not publicly known; not open; secret. 

  • Not shared with another patient. 

  • Not accessible by the public. 

  • Protected from view or disturbance by others; secluded. 

  • Secretive; reserved. 

  • Accessible only to the class itself or instances of it, and not to other classes or even subclasses. 

  • Not traded by the public. 

  • Not in governmental office or employment. 

noun
  • A private lesson. 

  • The genitals. 

  • A soldier of the lowest rank in the army. 

  • A doctor working in privately rather than publicly funded health care. 

verb
  • To make something hidden from the public (without deleting it permanently). 

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