It is grammatically correct and usable in written English.
This phrase is typically used in academic or technical writing to introduce a description or defining trait of someone or something. Example: "The first step in describing a person is to give a characteristic that sets them apart from others in their group."
The governing differential equations give a characteristic equation of the 12th order with real coefficients.
Their purgative properties and yellow colour are derived from anthracene glycosides; they also contain high levels of calcium oxalate, which give a characteristic grittiness.
They eventually selected portions of two chloroplast genes rbcL and matK where variations in the DNA give a characteristic signature for plant species.
For example, Marc Hauser of Harvard University has found that when a rhesus monkey is out foraging and comes upon a source of especially high-quality food, like, say, a batch of ripe coconuts, the monkey is expected to give a characteristic food call to alert its comrades to the find.
Depending on thickness graphene flakes give a characteristic color contrast on a thermally grown SiO2 layer of 300 nm thickness on top of Si wafers [71].
Haemorrhagic ovarian cysts give a characteristic internal reticular pattern on ultrasound with high attenuation contents on non-contrast CT, an enhancing cystic wall and contrast-enhanced blood in the pelvis on delayed phases in cases of cyst rupture (Table 1).
"Jews were given a characteristic physiognomy," Lipton notes, "well before biological racism permeated European thought".
Asked by an interviewer for his own view of the Prince, Tarr gave a characteristic response.
When I asked whether she worked on improvising her shots, she said no, and gave a characteristic shrug.
The relative composition of the different species was unique to each plant giving a characteristic "fingerprint".
Asked in an interview with the Guardian earlier this year why she wrote, she gave a characteristic reply: "For somebody like me it is something I have to do.
