critical

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈkrɪt.ɪ.kᵊl/, US /ˈkrɪt̬.ɪ.kᵊl/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from critic and the suffix -al,^[2][3] after Late Latin criticus,^[4] which comes through Latin from Greek kritikós “able to judge”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Merriam-Webster dates it to 1547.^[3] Etymonline's first sense is “censorious, inclined to find fault”, from the 1580s,^[2] and the OED's first example of it is from 1590.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The New Oxford dictionary gives the first sense as relating to the crisis of a disease, in the mid-16th century.^[4] In medicine and astrology “relating to the turning point of a disease” is from 1601;^[5] it led to “important for determining an outcome”, about 1600.^[2] “Involving judgement as to truth or merit” is from the 1640s,^[2] and “of the nature of a crisis, in extreme danger or doubt” from the 1660s.^[2][5] “Relating to criticism”, as of literature, is from 1741.^[2][5] Critically meant “accurately” in the 1650s, and “in a critical situation” from 1815.^[2] In nuclear physics, critical mass is from 1940, and criticality in that sense from 1950.^[2] In Devon dialect critical meant “dangerous, risky”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1547 – first recorded.^[3]
• 1590 – fault-finding.^[5]
• 1601 – relating to the crisis of a disease.^[5]
• 1640s – involving judgement.^[2]
• 1660s – dangerous, uncertain.^[2]
• 1741 – relating to criticism.^[2][5]
• 1940 – critical mass.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Inclined to judge severely and find fault.
2. Marked by careful and exact judgement: a critical reading.
3. Of or relating to critics or criticism.
4. Of the nature of a turning point; crucial or decisive.
5. Of an illness, at a dangerous stage; seriously ill.
6. (physics) At the point where a chain reaction can sustain itself.

Word family

• critically
• criticalness
• criticality
• acritical
• anticritical
• hypercritical
• overcritical
• postcritical

Related words

• critic
• criticism
• crisis
• criterion
• hypocrite
• certain

Usage notes

Critical is the most general of several adjectives for a tendency to find fault, beside captious, censorious, faultfinding and hypercritical.^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin