Artificial

Pronunciation

• enPR: ä(r)tÉ™fÄ­sh'É™l, IPA: /ɑː(ɹ)təˈfɪʃəl/
• Rhymes: -ɪʃəl

Origin

Via Old French (French: artificiel), from Latin artificialis from artificium ("skill"), from artifex, from ars ("skill"), and -fex, from facere ("to make").

Full definition of artificial

Adjective

1. Man-made; of artifice.
• 2013-06-01, A better waterworks, An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time.
2. The flowers were artificial, and he thought them rather tacky.
3. False, misleading.
   Her manner was somewhat artificial.
4. Unnatural.

Derived terms

Related terms

• artifact
• artifice
• artificer