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

13 June 2025

AIRPLANE

(noun) an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets; “the flight was delayed due to trouble with the airplane”


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Coffee Trivia

The average annual yield from one coffee tree is the equivalent of 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of roasted coffee. It takes about 4,000 hand-picked green coffee beans to make a pound of coffee.

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