artifex

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-

Proto-Indo-European *h₂értis

Proto-Italic *artis

Latin ars

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.

Proto-Italic *-faks

Latin -fex

Latin artifex

From ars (“art”) + -fex (“suffix representing a maker or producer”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈar.tɪ.fɛks]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈar.ti.feks]

Noun

artifex m or f (genitive artificis); third declension

1. artist, actor
2. craftsman, master (of a craft)

   Synonyms: opifex, faber

   • Vitruvius, De Architectura, Book I, Chapter I, section 3; English translation by Frank Granger

     Neque enim ingenium sine disciplina aut disciplina sine ingenio perfectum artificem potest efficere.

     For neither talent without instruction nor instruction without talent can produce the perfect craftsman.

3. mastermind, schemer
4. creator, the Creator

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	artifex	artificēs
genitive	artificis	artificum
dative	artificī	artificibus
accusative	artificem	artificēs
ablative	artifice	artificibus
vocative	artifex	artificēs

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: artefice
  • Sicilian: artìfici

Borrowings:

• → Catalan: àrtífex
• → Galician: artífice
• → Portuguese: artífice
• → Spanish: artífice

Adjective

artifex (genitive artificis); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. skilled, artistic
2. expert
3. artful, cunning
4. creative

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	artifex			artificēs	artificia
genitive	artificis			artificium
dative	artificī			artificibus
accusative	artificem	artifex		artificīs artificēs	artificia
ablative	artificī artifice			artificibus
vocative	artifex			artificēs	artificia

References

• “artifex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “artifex”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "artifex", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “artifex”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• artifex in Georges, Karl Ernst; Georges, Heinrich (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th edition, volume 1, Hahnsche Buchhandlung
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • an accomplished dialectician: disserendi peritus et artifex
    
• artifex in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016