The general definition of an RPG is a game where a player can assume multiple roles each with their own specializations and this is how the forefathers of RPGs defined it that way ...

Zelda in the strictest sense of the term is NOT an RPG and the same applies to a ton of JRPGs too ...

This is a good example of how different people define certain terms differently.  Which is exactly why people need to realize that not everyone is using the same definitions. 

There's only different definitions because the original one was lost overtime ... 

The different definitions come from different applications and people redefining it.  Traditionally, a role-playing game didn't refer to video games at all.

That's true but it doesn't necessarily exclude them from been in a different format so the original definition fits pretty well ... 

Some of the nuances were likely varied among people, since the term itself is rather broad.  The reason it's becoming such an issue now has a lot to do with how many different games and sub-genres there are now.  Sweeping terms worked fine then, but now there are so many kinds of games, and many games trying to be different from each other that people will want a way to categorize all of them and separate them from one another. 

Yes I agree, the point here is the definition. What irritates me is defining RPG just by playing a fictional character. Halo, Doom, Mario are all RPGs by that definition. It is fine with me, but makes RPG as a genre-label pretty much pointless. Because only board games, puzzles, stuff like Tetris are without a character you steer.

technically? yes. By todays standards of rpg? no. More action adventure. But i believe the definition of an rpg is that the protagonist gains changes to his/her attributes and abilites between the beginning and the end of the game. So technically, yes. But by that definition practically all aaa games of today are rpgs.

Frankly, you have an extremely limited experience with rpg's if those are the only you ever played. You don't need multiple characters with different abilities, rock paper sissor combat, jobs, character customization, tactical or turn based combat for a game to be considered an rpg. There are many rpg elements in almost every genre. 

Zelda has rupee grinding, questing, similar combat to other action rpg's, explorable towns, npcs to talk to, shops, sizable game world to explore, dungeons, story is told at slower pace to a singular perspective, longer game play and earning gear/upgrades. That's just some that I can think of.  Not one rpg element, huh? Many genres have rpg elements in them now. 

It may not have a leveling system and stats in the traditional sense but that's not a must have. You do upgrade link's max hp/hearts. Elder Scrolls threw away traditional stats like strength, agility, wisdom, intelligence in favor of a more simplified system of just HP, fatigue and magika. 

Games like Dragon's dogma, souls series, mass effect series stretch what is known as rpg's.

Zelda has more in common with those rpg's than it does with games like shadow of the colossus, god of war, devil may cry, bayonetta, tomb raider, uncharted series and TLOU.

Every genre has been borrowing rpg elements for a while. COD is a prime example.