critical (kritikal)

[As critic + -al.] 1. Involving judgment as to the truth or merit of something; judicial, especially in respect to literary or artistic works; belonging to the art of a critic; relating to criticism; exercised in criticism. Critical skill, applied to the investigation of an author's text, was the function of the human mind as unknown in the Greece of Lycurgus as in the Germany of Tacitus, or the Tonga taboo of Captain Cook. De Quincey , Homer, i. A critical instinct so insatiable that it must turn upon itself, for lack of something else to hew and hack, becomes incapable at last of originating anything but indecision. Lowell , Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 215. Ancient History exercises the critical faculty in a comparatively narrow and exhausted field. Stubbs , Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 95. 2. Having the knowledge, ability, or discernment to pa accurate judgment, especially upon literary and artistic matters. It is submitted to the judgment of more critical ears to direct and determine what is graceful and what is not. Holder . 3. Inclined to make nice distinctions; careful in selection; nicely judicious; exact; fastidious; precise. A point in the plane of imaginary quantity at which two values of a function become equal; a point of ramification. (b) In physics, the temperature fixed for a given gas, above which it is believed that no amount of pre ure can reduce the liquid form: thus, for carbon dioxid (CO2) the critical point is about 31° C. At this point the substance is said to be in a critical state. Critical suspension of judgment, a refraining from forming an opinion, with a view to further examination of the evidence: opposed to skeptical suspension of judgment, which is accompanied 3. Nice, accurate, discriminating.-4. Captious, faultfinding, carping, caviling, censorious. criticality (krit-i-kal'i-ti), n. [ no intention of ever to a conclusion. = Syn. Nor does Dr. Bastian's chemical criticality seem to be of a more susceptible kind. Huxley , quoted in New York Independent, Nov. 10, 1870. 2. A critical idea or observation. [Rare.] I shall leave this place in about a fortnight, and within that time hope to despatch you a packet with my critical i ties entire. Gray, Letters, I. 299. critically (krit'i-kal-i), adv. 1. In a critical manner; with just discernment of truth or falsehood, propriety or impropriety; with nice scrutiny; accurately; exactly. For to understand critically the delicacies of Horace is a height to which few of our noblemen have arrived. Dryden, Ded. of Cleomenes. 2. At the crisis; opportunely; in the nick of time. Coming critically the night before the se ion. Burnet. I have just received my new scarf from London, and you are most critically come to give me your Opinion of it. Cibber, Carele Husband, ii. 1. 3. In a critical situation, place, or condition; so as to command the crisis. criticalne (krit'i-kal-nes), n. 1. The state of being critical or opportune; incidence at a particular point of time.-2. Exactne ; accuracy; nicety; minute care in examination. criticaster (krit'i-kas-ter), n. [=Sp. criticastro D. G. kritikaster , criticaster , crit i cus , a critic, + dim. -aster .] An inferior or incompetent critic; a petty censurer. The criticaster , having looked for a given expre ion in his dictionary, but without finding it there, or even without this preliminary toil, conceives it to be novel, unauthorized, contrary to analogy, vulgar, superfluous, or what not. F. Hall , False Philol., p. 1. IMG:content-1641.png:[blocks in formation] 5. Of the nature of a crisis in affairs; decisive; important as regards consequences: as, a crit i cal juncture. The se ions day is critical to thieves. Marlowe, Jew of Malta, ii. 2. Every step you take is decisive - every action you perform is critical - every idea you form is likely to become a principle, influencing your future destiny. Fletcher. It is, I think, an observation of St. Augustine, that those periods are critical and formidable when the power of putting questions runs greatly in advance of the pains to answer them. Gladstone, Might of Right, p. 98. 6. In med . , pertaining to the crisis or turning point of a disease. A common critical phenomenon is a prolonged, sound, and refreshing sleep. Quain, Med. Dict., p. 319. 7. Formed, situated, or tending to determine or decide; important or e ential for determining: as, critical evidence; a critical post.-8. Being in a condition of extreme doubt or danger; attended with peril or risk; dangerous; hazardous: as, a critical undertaking. Our circumstances are indeed critical; but then they are the critical circumstances of a strong and mighty nation. Burke , Late State of the Nation. criticisable, criticise, etc. See criticizable, etc. It. criticismo; as critic + -ism. Cf. criticize.] 1. The art of judging of and defining the qualities or merits of a thing, especially of a literary or artistic work: as, the rules of criticism. In the first place, I must take leave to tell them that they wholly mistake the nature of criticism who think its busine is principally to find fault. Criticism , as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant a standard of judg ing well; the chiefest part of which is, to observe those ex croak documents. Higher criticism concerns writings as a whole; lower criticism concerns the integrity or character of particular parts or pa ages. One branch of this comprehensive inquiry [the relation of science to the Bible] is Criticism -the investigation of the origin, authorship, and meaning of the several books of the Bible, and of the credibility of the history which it contains. G. P. Fisher, Begin. of Christianity, p. 392, 4. A critical judgment; especially, a detailed critical examination or disquisition; a critique. There is not a Greek or Latin critic who has not shewn, even in the style of his criticisms , that he was a master of his native tongue. Add is on, Spectator, No. 291. 5. The critical or Kantian philosophy (which see, under critical). - External criticism, the examination of particular pa ages in a writing, with a view to the correction of the text. - Higher criticism, lower criticism. See above, 3.