Remark 1.3.5.5. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be a category. The core $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}^{\simeq }$ is determined (up to isomorphism) by the following properties:
The category $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}^{\simeq }$ is a groupoid.
If $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ is a groupoid, then every functor $F: \operatorname{\mathcal{D}}\rightarrow \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ factors (uniquely) through $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}^{\simeq }$.