ARTIFICE

ruse, artifice

(noun) a deceptive maneuver (especially to avoid capture)

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

artifice (countable and uncountable, plural artifices)

A crafty but underhanded deception.

A trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse.

A strategic maneuver that uses some clever means to avoid detection or capture.

A tactical move to gain advantage.

(archaic) Something made with technical skill; a contrivance.

Verb

artifice (third-person singular simple present artifices, present participle artificing, simple past and past participle artificed)

To construct by means of skill or specialised art

Source: Wiktionary


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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

24 April 2025

LININ

(noun) an obsolete term for the network of viscous material in the cell nucleus on which the chromatin granules were thought to be suspended


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee starts as a yellow berry, changes into a red berry, and then is picked by hand to harvest. The red berry is de-shelled through a water soaking process and what’s left inside is the green coffee bean. This bean then dries in the sun for 3-5 days, where it is then packed and ready for sale.

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