In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.
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
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
8 January 2025
SYCAMORE
(noun) Eurasian maple tree with pale grey bark that peels in flakes like that of a sycamore tree; leaves with five ovate lobes yellow in autumn
Coffee Trivia
