artefice

Forms

artefice m (plural artefici)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin artifex (“craftsman, artist, master”), from its accusative.^[1][2][3][4] The Latin word is a compound of ars (“art, skill”) and -fex (“maker”), the agent form of faciō (“to make, do”).^[5][1][2][6] DEI notes that the Latin word became common only from Seneca and Pliny on.^[7]

The Latin nominative survives in Old Italian artefe and Old Umbrian artefo, the accusative in the present word.^[8][9] Outside Italy the LEI finds the word in Old Occitan artifeys, Catalan artífice, Spanish artífice and Portuguese artífice.^[10] In Old Italian it competed with Old Genoese artese and with artigiano, both formed from the Latin word for art.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum of about 1250, where women are artifice de mali argumenti, contrivers of wicked schemes.^[4][10] In Tuscan, Brunetto Latini (before 1294) uses artefice for one who puts an art into practice.^[11][12]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the artefice was a craftsman and especially a member of one of the guilds (Arti): the TLIO records artefice minuto for a member of the lesser guilds, and Lucchese statutes of 1376 call the guildsmen artefici.^[4][10] Tommaseo still placed the artefice, such as the watchmaker or the goldsmith, between the artisan and the artist.^[13] The word could also mean the maker or cause of anything, and God as the creator: il Sommo Artefice and l'Eterno Artefice are already Old Italian.^[4] Giovanni Villani uses it for God before 1348, and Boccaccio in 1353 for a trickster.^[10]

From 1537 it names the artist who makes figurative works.^[10] From the 17th century it is also used of a refined writer.^[10] In modern use the sense “author, the person responsible” is the most common (l'artefice della vittoria), while in the army and navy an artefice is a soldier or sailor assigned to the arsenals or to mechanical repairs.^[14][3]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – The Venetian Proverbia use the plural artifice of women.^[10][4]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses artefice.^[11]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for God.^[10]
• 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for a deceiver.^[10]
• 1376 – Lucchese statutes call the members of the guilds artefici.^[10]
• 1537 – Biringuccio uses it for the maker of figurative works.^[10]
• Before 1580 – Vincenzo Borghini has the diminutive arteficello.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who makes something with skill and intelligence; a craftsman or artisan.^[3][15][14]
2. A creator or author of works of art or literature.^[3][16][1]
3. The person responsible for something, its architect: fu lei l'artefice del successo della squadra.^[6][15][14]
4. (dated) A trickster or deceiver.^[3][10]
5. (military) In the army, a soldier assigned to the arms depots; in the navy, a stoker who carries out mechanical repairs.^[3][14]

Word family

• arteficello
• arteficiaccio
• arteficiato

Related words

• arte
• artificio
• artigiano
• Latin artifex

Usage notes

Il Sommo Artefice or il divino artefice is God.^[16][6][17] The word is masculine and feminine.^[3][15] Old forms include artefe, artifice and arteficie.^[13][4][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 307
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 73
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
11. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli