character
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character
A single graphic symbol in a writing system, such as a letter, a digit, or an ideogram.
Das chinesische Wort für 'Tee' besteht nur aus einem einzigen Schriftzeichen.
The Chinese word for 'tea' consists of just a single character.
The word is composed of 'die Schrift' (writing/script) and 'das Zeichen' (sign/character). The 's' in the middle is a linking sound that connects the two parts. Literally, it is therefore a 'sign of writing'.
Jeder Buchstabe in unserem Alphabet ist ein Schriftzeichen.
Every letter in our alphabet is a character.
'Schriftzeichen' (character) is often combined with specific languages that do not use Latin letters, e.g. 'chinesische Schriftzeichen' (Chinese characters), 'japanische Schriftzeichen' (Japanese characters), or 'arabische Schriftzeichen' (Arabic characters).
Es ist sehr schwer, die Tausenden chinesischen Schriftzeichen zu lernen.
It is very difficult to learn the thousands of Chinese characters.
Typical verbs used with 'Schriftzeichen' (characters) are 'lernen' (to learn), 'erkennen' (to recognize), 'entziffern' (to decipher), or 'malen' (to draw/paint). The construction 'bestehen aus' + dative is also often used.
Der alte Text besteht aus Schriftzeichen, die niemand mehr entziffern kann.
The old text consists of characters that no one can decipher anymore.
sign / symbol
'das Zeichen' and 'das Schriftzeichen' can both mean a single element in a writing system, for example a letter or a digit. But 'das Zeichen' is much more general and can also mean symbols, gestures, or indications. 'das Schriftzeichen' is used more precisely when you are really talking about written characters in a script. The words can be confused because every 'Schriftzeichen' is also a 'Zeichen'. But not every 'Zeichen' is a 'Schriftzeichen'. When you are talking about language, writing, or individual letters, 'Schriftzeichen' is often more precise.
In diesem Text kann ich einige Schriftzeichen nicht lesen.
I can't read some of the characters in this text.
Auf dem Formular fehlt noch ein Zeichen in der Nummer.
One character is still missing from the number on the form.