Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “hypercritical” come from?

Hypercritical derives from English critical, which combines English aldehyde with the suffix English -al, ultimately tracing to Ancient Greek κρίνω meaning to judge or separate.

hypercritical (English): Meticulously or excessively critical

Definitions

  1. Meticulously or excessively critical

Ancestry of “hypercritical”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishcriticalInclined to find fault or criticize; Pertaining...
2English-ál—
3EnglishaldehydeAny of a large class of reactive organic...
4GermanAldehydaldehyde
5Latinalcoholkohl, collyrium, stibium; any other powder...
6Andalusian Arabicكُحُول—
7Arabicكحلantimony; kohl, stibnite; black coloring of the...
8Arabicكُحْلantimony; kohl, stibnite
9Akkadianguḫlum—

Words derived from “hypercritical”

  • hypercritically
  • hypercriticalness
Every word from Akkadian guḫlum →