critic English · revision 15189

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1588|origins=grc κρίνω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈkrɪt.ɪk/, US /ˈkrɪt̬.ɪk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|critique]] and [[la|criticus|t=a judge, censor, literary critic]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[grc|κριτικός|tr=kritikós|t=able to judge]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|grc|κριτής|tr=kritḗs|t=judge]],^(Hoad 1986)^(Collins 2023) from [[m|grc|κρίνω|tr=krínō|t=to separate, decide, judge]] (see [[crisis]] and [[criterion]]).^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who passes judgement on something or someone, especially severely: 1588, in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the 1580s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ One who judges the merits of books, plays and other works is from 1605, in Francis Bacon,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) or about 1600 in Etymonline, which adds that the English word has always carried overtones of a fault-finder.^(Etymonline) An adjective critic was used in medicine for the crisis of a disease from 1544, and for censorious from 1598.^(OED 1989) A noun critic also meant criticism (1656) and a critical essay (1709);^(OED 1989) in these senses it was later spelled critique, after the French.^(Hoad 1986) Critical is from 1590, criticism from 1607 and criticize from 1649, in Milton.^(Barnhart 1988) The 17th century called an inferior critic a criticaster.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1544 – critic (adjective, medicine).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1588 – one who passes judgement.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590 – critical.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1605 – a judge of literature and art.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1607 – criticism; to critic (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1649 – criticize.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who forms and expresses judgements of the merits and faults of something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A professional [[reviewer]] of literature, art, music, film or the theatre.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who tends to find fault; a [[censor|alt=censurer]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[criticaster]]

+ * [[hypercritic]]

+ * [[supercritic]]

+ * [[textual critic]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[crisis]]

+ * [[criticism]]

+ * [[critical]]

+ * [[critical mass]]

+ * [[criticize]]

+ * [[criticise]]

+ * [[critique]]

+ * [[criterion]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}