characteristic: applies to something that distinguishes or identifies a person, thing, or class: responded with his ~ wit.    （distinguish区分to see or understand the difference between two people or things，如 如it was hard to distinguish one twin from the other很难分辨出一对孪生儿谁是谁，如sometimes reality and fantasy are hard to distinguish有时候现实和幻想很难区分）     (identify鉴定辨别，来自identity身份，意思是to say who or what somebody or something is，如we have not yet clearly identified the source of the pollution我们还未鉴定出污染源，如to identify an illness鉴定疾病, 如bird calls aid in the identification of species鸟的叫声能用来鉴别物种)    又如characteristic enthusiasm/wit特有的热情/幽默，如中国特色社会主义socialism with Chinese characteristics


individual: stresses qualities that distinguish one from other members of the same group or class: a highly ~ writing style.


peculiar: stresses the rarity or uniqueness of qualities possessed by a particular individual or class or kind: an eccentricity that is ~ to the British.


distinctive: indicates qualities distinguishing and uncommon and often worthy of recognition or praise: her ~ aura of grace and elegance.  她独特的优雅光环


characteristic特色: 指能区分鉴别出个体或种类的属性，individual个人独有: 强调能从同类中区分出个体的属性，peculiar特有: 强调个体或种类的罕见特有属性，distinctive独特: 表示值得认可称赞


记忆方法: 1）首字母CIPD排序成PCID电脑ID<==特有           "特"的本义是大牛，寺是官署，意思是官署的牛，和犊du相对。本义即指体形庞大的公牛，由大义引申出独特、特殊，单独等含义。    "独"从犬蜀声，本义是指单独，犬好斗，好斗则独而不群，不像羊喜欢结群。由单独义引申出孤单、独特、独裁、仅仅等义。

         2）特有的意思是特殊的性质身份mean revealing a special quality or identity.