In Hibernate, criteria and criterion are two important concepts related to data retrieval from a database.

Criteria: Criteria refers to a query that is used to retrieve data from a database using the Hibernate Criteria API. Criteria provide a flexible and dynamic approach to creating complex queries for retrieving data from a database.

Criterion: Criterion refers to a specific condition that is used to filter the data in a criteria query. For example, you can use a criterion to filter the data based on a specific attribute value, range of values, or a combination of values.

In other words, criteria are the overall query and criterion is a specific condition within the query that is used to filter the data.

BY Best Interview Question ON 10 Feb 2023