artifact
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Alternative forms
[edit] Etymology
Alteration of artefact, from Italian artefatto, from Latin arte (“by skill”), (ablative of ars (“art”)) + factum (“thing made”), from facere
[edit] Noun
artifact (plural artifacts)
- An object made or shaped by human hand.
- (archaeology) An object, such as a tool, weapon or ornament, of archaeological or historical interest, especially such an object found at an archaeological excavation.
- The dig produced many Roman artifacts.
- Something viewed as a product of human conception or agency rather than an inherent element.
- "The very act of looking at a naked model was an artifact of male supremacy" (Philip Weiss).
- A structure or finding in an experiment or investigation that is not a true feature of the object under observation, but is a result of external action, the test arrangement, or an experimental error.
- The spot on his lung turned out to be an artifact of the X-ray process.
- An object made or shaped by some agent or intelligence, not necessarily of direct human origin.
[edit] Translations
man-made object
archaeological object
something viewed as a product of human conception
artificial feature
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Translation requests
[edit] References
- artifact in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- "artefact" is the preferred spelling in Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary, with artifact listed as a variant.
- "artifact" is preferred by the Oxford English Dictionary and most American dictionaries.
