Prohibition against use of a person's character, propensity, or disposition to show the person's conduct on a particular occasion; i.e., the prohibition against "circumstantial" character evidence, or the prohibition against "circumstantial" use of a person's character or propensity.

The phrases "circumstantial character evidence" and "circumstantial use of character" are unfortunate and misleading. But they are deeply ingrained habits of speech and mind -- they are deeply ingrained in the way that many lawyers and judges talk about character evidence. The phrase "circumstantial character evidence" refers to character (or propensity) that is used for purposes other than impeachment or rehabilitation of witness -- the phrase refers to the use of character or propensity to show -- as I would put it -- the "non-testimonial conduct" of a person. In general (but not always) this means that character is offered to show the non-courtroom conduct of a person.