Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Criticism like that of Zoilus; illiberal or carping criticism; unjust censure.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Resemblance to Zoilus in style or manner; carping criticism; detraction.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete nagging or carping criticism

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the works of Zoilus (Ancient Greek: Ζωΐλος), a classical Greek, who was highly critical of Homer.

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  • Carping criticism or detraction. The word derives from Zoilus, Greek rhetorician and philosopher who denounced Homer as a purveyor of fables and criticized Isocrates and Plato.

    March 27, 2007