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critic

 - 3 dictionary results

crit⋅ic

  [krit-ik]
Use critic in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who judges, evaluates, or criticizes: a poor critic of men.
2. a person who judges, evaluates, or analyzes literary or artistic works, dramatic or musical performances, or the like, esp. for a newspaper or magazine.
3. a person who tends too readily to make captious, trivial, or harsh judgments; faultfinder.
4. Archaic.
a. criticism.
b. critique.
Origin:
1575–85; < L criticus < Gk kritikós skilled in judging (adj.), critic (n.), equiv. to krt(ēs) judge, umpire (kr(nein) to separate, decide + -tēs agent suffix) + -ikos -ic

Synonyms:
2. reviewer, judge. 3. censurer, carper.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To critic
crit·ic   (krĭt'ĭk)   
n.  

  1. One who forms and expresses judgments of the merits, faults, value, or truth of a matter.

  2. One who specializes especially professionally in the evaluation and appreciation of literary or artistic works: a film critic; a dance critic.

  3. One who tends to make harsh or carping judgments; a faultfinder.


[Latin criticus, from Greek kritikos, able to discern, from kritēs, judge, from krīnein, to separate, judge; see krei- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

critic 
1583, from L. criticus, from Gk. kritikos "able to make judgments," from krinein "to separate, decide." The Eng. word always had overtones of "censurer, faultfinder." Critical in this sense is from 1590; meaning "of the nature of a crisis" is 1649 (see crisis).
"A perfect judge will read each work of wit
With the same spirit that its author writ;"
[Pope, "An Essay on Criticism," 1709]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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