- the point at which a substance in one phase, as the liquid, has the same density, pressure, and temperature as in another phase, as the gaseous: The volume of water at the critical point is uniquely determined by the critical temperature.
- Mathematics.
- (of a function of a single variable) a point at which the derivative of the function is zero: One critical point, at x = 0, is a decreasing function for positive x.
- (of a function of several variables) a point at which all partial derivatives of the function are zero: Find and classify all the critical points of the given function.
- physics
- the point on a phase diagram that represents the critical state of a substance
- another name for critical state
- maths the US name for stationary point
