criterion
Pluralcriteria
- 1A standard, test, or requirement by which things or people can be compared and judged.
Affordability was only one criterion in the committee's ranking of the proposals.
Applicants who meet all the criteria will be invited to interview next month.
Similarstandard, benchmark, yardstick, measure, requirement
Note
A Greek word that kept its Greek plural: kritḗrion, "a means of judging," comes from kritḗs, "judge," the same family as critic. One criterion, several criteria. The regular plural criterions exists but is rare, and criteria takes a plural verb (the criteria are strict). The word pairs naturally with of: a criterion of choice, of decision, of selection.
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Origin
From New Latin criterion, from Ancient Greek κριτήριον (kritḗrion, "a test, a means of judging"), from κριτής (kritḗs, "judge"), from κρίνω (krínō, "to judge").