In mathematics, characteristic exponent may refer to:

• Characteristic exponent of a field, a number equal to 1 if the field has characteristic 0, and equal to p if the field has characteristic p > 0
• Lyapunov characteristic exponent, a quantity that characterizes the rate of separation
• Characteristic exponent of Stable distribution
• The logarithm of a characteristic function
• Logarithm of a characteristic multiplier in the Floquet theory
• Solution of the indicial equation of the Frobenius method