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Webster 1913 Edition


Artifice

Ar′ti-fice

,
Noun.
[L.
artificium
, fr.
artifex
artificer;
ars
,
artis
, art +
facere
to make: cf. F.
artifice
.]
1.
A handicraft; a trade; art of making.
[Obs.]
2.
Workmanship; a skillfully contrived work.
The material universe . . . in the
artifice
of God, the
artifice
of the best Mechanist.
Cudworth.
3.
Artful or skillful contrivance.
His [Congreve’s] plots were constructed without much
artifice
.
Craik.
4.
Crafty device; an artful, ingenious, or elaborate trick.
[Now the usual meaning.]
Those who were conscious of guilt employed numerous
artifices
for the purpose of averting inquiry.
Macaulay.

Webster 1828 Edition


Artifice

'ARTIFICE

,
Noun.
[L. artificium, from ars, art, and facio, to make.]
1.
Stratagem; an artful or ingenious device, in a good or bad sense. In a bad sense, it corresponds with trick, or fraud.
2.
Art; trade; skill acquired by science or practice. [Rarely used.]

Definition 2024


artifice

artifice

See also: artífice

English

Noun

artifice (plural artifices)

  1. A crafty but underhanded deception.
  2. A trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse.
  3. A strategic maneuver that uses some clever means to avoid detection or capture.
  4. A tactical move to gain advantage.

Translations

Related terms


French

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin artificium.

Pronunciation

Noun

artifice m (plural artifices)

  1. artifice, trick, ploy
  2. (literary) device

Derived terms


Latin

Noun

artifice

  1. ablative singular of artifex