κριτήριον

Forms

κρῐτήρῐον (kritḗrion) n (genitive κρῐτηρῐ́ου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κριτήρ (kritḗr, “judge, interpreter”) + -ιον (-ion), the base coming from κρίνω (krínō, “to judge, discern”).^[1] The CGL and Etymonline relate it to κριτής (kritḗs, “judge”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Plato, who in the Theaetetus and the Republic uses it for the faculty by which one judges, and in the Laws for a court.^[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The sense “means of judging, standard” became a term of philosophy: Aristotle used it of the senses, and Epicurus, Posidonius and Ptolemy wrote works “on the criterion”; the Stoic Zeno called time the measure and test of speed.^[4] In the legal sense “court, tribunal” it was used by Polybius, in the papyri and the Septuagint, and in the New Testament, where the Epistle of James speaks of dragging people into court.^[4][6][2] An inscription from Delphi uses it for a court's decision.^[4]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it, in forms such as κριτήριο (kritírio), for a court, a judgment, and torment or punishment.^[7] Modern Greek κριτήριο (kritírio) is a learned word meaning a standard by which something is judged.^[8] English took criterion in the 1610s as a Greek word, and in a Latinized form from the 1660s.^[3]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for the faculty of judging and for a court.^[4][2]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of the senses that judge flavours.^[4]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of a court of arbitration, and an inscription from Delphi of a court's decision.^[2][4]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for lawcourts.^[6][4]
• 1610s – The English word criterion is first used, as a Greek word.^[3]
• Modern Greek – The learned κριτήριο (kritírio) means a criterion.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A means of judging or testing, a standard, criterion; often of the mind and the senses.^[4][2]
2. A means of deciding a legal case, a legal procedure.^[2]
3. A court of judgement, tribunal; a court of arbitration between states.^[4][2][6]
4. A court's decision, judgement.^[4]
5. (Byzantine) Torment, punishment.^[7]

Related words

• κρίνω (krínō)
• κριτής (kritḗs)
• English criterion

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
7. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki