Learn English – a good synonym for “attribute”

I am looking for a good synonym for the word attribute that can be used in these sentences:

• The item's attributes are…
• Colour is a type of attribute.
• Weight is a type of attribute.
• The item's colour (attribute) is red.
• What are the items that have that attribute?

I'd rather not use the word "property" instead and I'd prefer a word shorter than "characteristic".

The audience for the word is software developers, they are used to properties and attributes, however the word "attribute" is reserved and both "attribute" and "property" usually refer to specific things.

"Feature" and "quality" have very different meanings in the software world. Also, most programmers would complain about the length of "characteristics".

"Trait" seems like a good option, however, I'll have to check how many of my co-workers will understand the meaning.