Defn: A product of human workmanship; — applied esp. to the simpler products of aboriginal art as distinguished from natural objects.
2. (Biol.) A structure or appearance in protoplasm due to death or the use of reagents and not present during life.
ARTIFICE Ar"ti*fice, n. Etym: [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.
Note: [Now the usual meaning.] Those who were conscious of guilt employed numerous artifices for the purpose of averting inquiry. Macaulay.
ARTIFICER
Ar*tif"i*cer, n. Etym: [Cf. F. artificier, fr. LL. artificiarius.]
1. An artistic worker; a mechanic or manufacturer; one whose occupation requires skill or knowledge of a particular kind, as a silversmith.