artefact
|ar-ti-fact|
🇺🇸
/ˈɑɹtɪˌfækt/
🇬🇧
/ˈɑːtɪfækt/
made by human skill
Etymology
'artefact' originates from Latin, specifically the phrase 'arte factum', where 'arte' meant 'by art/skill' and 'factum' meant 'made.'
'artefact' entered English in the late 19th century (often in scholarly and archaeological contexts) from Medieval Latin 'artefactum' or the Latin phrase 'arte factum'. The alternative spelling 'artifact' developed as a variant, especially in American English.
Initially it meant 'something made by skill' (literally 'made by art'); over time it came to mean specifically objects made by humans of cultural or historical interest, and in modern technical contexts also came to mean a spurious effect or distortion produced by a method or instrument.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
an object made by a human being, typically one of cultural, historical or archaeological interest.
The museum displayed several 2,000-year-old artefacts from the burial site.
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Noun 2
a distortion or error in data or an image produced by the method of observation or measurement (often called an 'artifact' in scientific or technical contexts).
The bright streak in the photograph was an artefact caused by the camera sensor.
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Last updated: 2025/10/21 13:50