artiste

Etymology

It is borrowed from French artiste (“artist, skilled performer or worker”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the French form of artist,^[7][8] which English had already taken in the 16th century from the same French word, which is from Italian artista, from Medieval Latin artista, from Latin ars (“art”).^[7][9] The OED suggests that the word was taken again because artist tended to be restricted to those in the fine arts, especially painting;^[2] Etymonline likewise says it filled the gap left after the sense of artist had narrowed to the visual arts.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A performing artist, such as a professional singer or dancer: 1790.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives 1780 as the first known use,^[3] while Etymonline finds it as a French word in English from 1804 and as an English word by 1819,^[7] and the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English date it to the early 19th century.^[10][5]

Semantic evolution

At first used in a foreign context, the word was soon applied to anyone skilled in an art outside the fine arts, or who makes an art of his or her job.^[7] In 1836 a writer in Paul Pry's Journal of a Residence at Little-Pedlington mocked it as "an admirable word (albeit somewhat Frenchified)", applied "to every species of exhibitor, from a rope-dancer down to a mere painter or sculptor".^[7] Besides entertainers, it is used of a person who shows great skill in some practical work, such as a cook, a milliner or a hairdresser,^[2][3][11] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged adds an artistic or creative person in general, often with some irony.^[3] In American gay slang an artiste was, from 1988, a man skilled at fellatio.^[12]

Timeline

• 1790 – a performing artist; a professional singer, dancer or the like.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates this sense to 1780, Etymonline to 1819.^[3][7]
• 1988 – in American gay slang, a man skilled at fellatio.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A professional entertainer, such as a singer, dancer or actor: a music-hall artiste.^[11][3][2]
2. A person who is very skilled in some practical work, such as cooking or hairdressing: a pastry artiste.^[11][3][2]
3. An artistic or creative person, often used ironically of one with pretensions.^[3]

Related words

• artist
• artisan
• art

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes the three words: an artist practises one of the fine arts, an artisan a craft or applied art, and an artiste is usually a skilled public performer.^[9]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com