- artifice
- 1530s, "workmanship," from M.Fr. artifice "skill, cunning" (14c.), from L. artificium "making by art, craft," from artifex (gen. artificis) "craftsman, artist," from ars "art" (see art (n.)) + facere "do" (see factitious). Meaning "device, trick" (the usual modern sense) is from 1650s.