Definify.com
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.
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.]