/ahr"teuh fis/ , n.
1. a clever trick or stratagem; a cunning, crafty device or expedient; wile.
2. trickery; guile; craftiness.
3. cunning; ingenuity; inventiveness: a drawing-room comedy crafted with artifice and elegance.
4. a skillful or artful contrivance or expedient.
[ 1525-35; artificium craftsmanship, art, craftiness, equiv. to arti-, comb. form of ars ART 1 + -fic-, comb. form of facere to DO 1 , make + -ium + -IUM ]
Syn. 1. subterfuge. See trick. 2. deception, deceit, art, duplicity. See cunning .