ärˈtifəsər, ȧˈtifəsə(r) sometimes ˈär]d.əf- or ˈȧ] or ]təf-\ noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English artificier, artificer, from (assumed) Anglo-French artificier, from Middle French artifice + -ier -er
1.
a. : a skilled or artistic worker : a mechanic or craftsman whose handicraft requires skill or knowledge of a special kind (as a silversmith)
b. : an enlisted man or noncommissioned officer in the army or navy with specialized technical duties : armorer
Royal Navy engine-room artificer
U.S. Army small arms artificer
2. : one that makes or contrives : deviser , inventor , framer
the grand artificer of the national life — L.P.Curtis
3. obsolete : a cunning or artful fellow
these base and illiterate artificers — Robert Burton