noun

1. the act of making judgments; analysis of qualities and evaluation of comparative worth; esp., the critical consideration and judgment of literary or artistic work
2. a comment, review, article, etc. expressing such analysis and judgment
3. the act of finding fault; censure; disapproval
4. the art, principles, or methods of a critic or critics
5. the scientific or scholarly investigation of texts or documents to discover their origin, history, or original form