Criticality

[krit-i-kuh l] /ˈkrɪt ɪ kəl/

adjective
1.
inclined to find fault or to judge with severity, often too readily.
2.
occupied with or skilled in criticism.
3.
involving skillful judgment as to truth, merit, etc.; judicial:
a critical analysis.
4.
of or relating to critics or criticism:
critical essays.
5.
providing textual variants, proposed emendations, etc.:
a critical edition of Chaucer.
6.
pertaining to or of the nature of a crisis:
a critical shortage of food.
7.
of decisive importance with respect to the outcome; crucial:
a critical moment.
8.
of essential importance; indispensable:
a critical ingredient.
9.
Medicine/Medical. (of a patient’s condition) having unstable and abnormal vital signs and other unfavorable indicators, as loss of appetite, poor mobility, or unconsciousness.
10.
Physics.

/ˌkrɪtɪˈkælɪtɪ/
noun
1.
the state of being critical
2.
(physics) the condition in a nuclear reactor when the fissionable material can sustain a chain reaction by itself
/ˈkrɪtɪkəl/
adjective
1.
containing or making severe or negative judgments
2.
containing careful or analytical evaluations: a critical dissertation
3.
of or involving a critic or criticism
4.
of or forming a crisis; crucial; decisive: a critical operation
5.
urgently needed: critical medical supplies
6.
(informal) so seriously injured or ill as to be in danger of dying
7.
(physics) of, denoting, or concerned with a state in which the properties of a system undergo an abrupt change: a critical temperature
8.
go critical, (of a nuclear power station or reactor) to reach a state in which a nuclear-fission chain reaction becomes self-sustaining
adj.

1580s, “censorious,” from critic + -al (1). Meaning “pertaining to criticism” is from 1741; medical sense is from c.1600; meaning “of the nature of a crisis” is from 1640s; that of “crucial” is from 1841, from the “decisive” sense in Latin criticus. Related: Criticality (1756; in the nuclear sense, 1950); critically (1650s, “accurately;” 1815, “in a critical situation”). In nuclear science, critical mass is attested from 1940.

critical crit·i·cal (krĭt’ĭ-kəl)
adj.