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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

artifice en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɑː(ɹ)tɪfɪs/
  • (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle French artifice, from Latin artificium.

Meanings

  1. (countable, uncountable) Crafty deception.
    • The notion that consequence can be as easily managed as PR is the ultimate artifice and the ultimate delusion. 2021 November 21, Charles Hugh Smith, When Everything Is Artifice and PR, Collapse Beckons:
  2. (countable, uncountable) A trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse.
    • The heightened worlds of darkly comedic satire and soapy high-school romance make it easy enough to roll with unrealistic casting choices—and that goes for stage musicals, too, where some level of artifice is built into the format. 2021 September 22, Caroline Siede, “Dear Evan Hansen is a misfire on just about every level”, in AV Club:
  3. (countable, uncountable) A strategic maneuver that uses some clever means to avoid detection or capture.
  4. (countable, uncountable) A tactical move to gain advantage.
  5. (countable, uncountable) Skill; cleverness.
  6. (archaic, countable, uncountable) Something made with technical skill; a contrivance.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
artifices Number=Plur lexicographic

Translations (45)

ca artifici (crafty deception) · cmn 計謀 /计谋 (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · fr feinte (crafty deception) · cs lest (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · cmn 手法 (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · non vél (crafty deception) · hu cselfogás (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · hu csalafintaság (crafty deception) · hu praktika (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · hu megtévesztés (crafty deception) · es artificio (crafty deception) · pt artifício (crafty deception) · pt artimanha (crafty deception) · fi temppu (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · hu rafinéria (crafty deception) · hu cselszövés (crafty deception) · hu lelemény (crafty deception) · cmn 詭計 /诡计 (crafty deception) · hu ravaszkodás (crafty deception) · fr artifice (crafty deception) · cs trik (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · de Kunstgriff (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · hu ügyeskedés (crafty deception) · fi juoni (crafty deception) · cmn 妙計 /妙计 (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · ota اورند (crafty deception) · sv konstgrepp (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · eo artifiko (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · hu ügyesség (crafty deception) · hu csel (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · fi temppu (crafty deception) · ro artificiu (crafty deception) · ota صنعت (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · io artifico (crafty deception) · sh smicalica (crafty deception) · eo artifiko (crafty deception) · hu trükk (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · lt gudrybė (crafty deception) · sh lukavstvo (crafty deception) · cmn 奸計 (crafty deception) · hu furfang (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · bg хитрина (crafty deception) · hu mesterkedés (crafty deception) · hu fortély (a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse) · ota حیله (crafty deception)

artifice en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɑː(ɹ)tɪfɪs/
  • (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle French artifice, from Latin artificium.

Meanings

  1. To construct by means of skill or specialised art
    • The Creator has so cunningly endowed our bodies that there is no labor to be done, no skill in artificing or fashioning the metals, that is beyond our reach. 1867, Egbert Pomroy Watson, The Modern Practice of American Machinists and Engineers […] :
    • Some of the greatest artists of their day either furnished designs or with their own hands artificed ornaments for domestic use, 1900, Country Life, volume 7, page 138:
    • Splints and slings, already described, are easily artificed out of small saplings or from stiff bark. 1922, Appalachian Mountain Club, The A.M.C. White Mountain Guide: A Guide to Trails in the Mountains:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
artificing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
artificed Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
artificed Tense=Past lexicographic
artifices Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Relateds

artificial