ARTIFICE


Meaning of ARTIFICE in English

ˈär]d.əfə̇s, ˈȧ], ]tə-\ noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle French, from Latin artificium, from artific-, artifex artificer, from arti- (from art-, ars skill) + -fic-, -fex (from facere to do, make)

1.

a. obsolete : production or making of something especially in arts or crafts

b. archaic : artistic skill or style

2.

a. : a wily or artful stratagem : trick , trickery

b. : guile , insincerity

a master of artifice

3. : an ingenious or skillful device or expedient : clever skill : ingenuity , inventiveness

the sum total of all this artifice , melodrama, and incredible behavior is a warm, witty, profoundly tragic portrait — Time

Synonyms: see art , trick

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.