'artifice' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'artificium', where 'art-' (from Latin 'ars') meant 'skill, art' and 'fici-' (from Latin 'facere') meant 'to make'.

'artifice' changed from Latin 'artificium' into Old French 'artifice', passed into Middle English as 'artifice', and eventually became the modern English word 'artifice'.

Initially, it meant 'skill, craft, or handiwork', but over time it also developed the sense of 'a clever device or stratagem' and often 'deceptive trick'.