Etymograph

English

criticize

Criticize comes from Ancient Greek κριτικός ‘of or for judging, able to discern’, from κρίσις ‘decision, judgement’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-1‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kri-n-yé-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kríňňō1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρῑ́νω2‘to decide’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρίσις3krísis‘decision, judgement’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκριτικός3kritikós‘of or for judging, able to discern’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1988criticize3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίσις
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English criticize
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1988, Elizabeth Pincus, 1978 Revisited: “Homophobia is based on criticizing any sexual expression outside…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνω‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kri-n-yé-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνωreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kríňňōWiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνωreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρῑ́νωWiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίσις‘to decide’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρίσιςWiktionary, English criticizekrísis‘decision, judgement’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκριτικόςWiktionary, English criticizekritikós‘of or for judging, able to discern’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1988criticizeWiktionary, English criticize. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1988, Elizabeth Pincus, 1978 Revisited: “Homophobia is based on criticizing any sexual expression outside…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate’

certain, secretary, secret, crime, criminal, discrimination, discretion, discrete, discreet, discriminate, riddle, discern, criterion, endocrine, excrement, excretion, incriminate, rime, excrete, ridder, incrimination, recrimination, certitude, 46 more

through Ancient Greek κρῑ́νω ‘to decide’

hypocrite, criterium, 7 more

through Ancient Greek κρίσις ‘decision, judgement’

crisis

Today it means

verb To find fault (with something).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “criticize”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek κρίνω, Ancient Greek κρίσις. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *krey- / criticize

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