Category:Artifice

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.