art Hear it!

art1 definition

art (ärt)

noun

  1. human ability to make things; creativity of man as distinguished from the world of nature
  2. skill; craftsmanship
  3. any specific skill or its application the art of making friends
  4. any craft, trade, or profession, or its principles the cobbler's art, the physician's art
  5. creative work or its principles; a making or doing of things that display form, beauty, and unusual perception: art includes painting, sculpture, architecture, music, literature, drama, the dance, etc.
  6. any branch of creative work, esp. painting, drawing, or work in any other graphic or plastic medium
  7. products of creative work; paintings, statues, etc.
  8. pictorial and decorative material accompanying the text in a newspaper, magazine, or advertising layout
    1. Archaic learning
    2. a branch of learning
    3. the liberal arts (literature, music, philosophy, etc.) as distinguished from the sciences
  9. artful behavior; cunning
  10. sly or cunning trick; wile: usually used in pl.

Etymology: ME < OFr arte < L ars (gen. artis), art < IE base *ar-, to join, fit together > arm, arm, articulate, ratio, L artus, joint

adjective

of or for works of art or artists art gallery, art colony
art2 definition

art (ärt)

intransitive verb

Archaic be: used with thou
art3 definition

art

  1. article
  2. artificial

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.
Related Discussions (4)
TopicRepliesLatest Post
making art out of objects63 years ago
The Art of the Pun245 years ago
art lover?66 years ago
Oh brother where art thou?87 years ago

Browse Forums