art English · revision 2510

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1250 (King Horn)|origins=ine-pro *ar-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ɑːt/, US /ɑːrt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|art]], [[bor|fro|art]] and directly [[bor|la|ars|t=skill, craft; a work of art]] (accusative [[m|la|artem]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*ar(ə)-ti-]], a suffixed form of [[m|ine-pro|*ar-|t=to fit together]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) The Latin word is related to [[m|la|artus|t=joint]] and [[m|la|arma|t=tools, weapons]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[arm]], [[article]], [[artifice]], [[artisan]], [[artist]] and [[inert]].^(Klein 1966)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cunning, trickery: about 1250, in ''King Horn'',^(Barnhart 1988) and skill gained by learning or practice in the early 13th century according to Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English ''art'' usually meant skill in scholarship and learning, especially in the seven liberal arts, the sense kept in ''Bachelor of Arts''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) “Human workmanship”, as opposed to nature, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and “a system of rules for doing something” from the late 15th.^(Etymonline) The sense “cunning” returned in the late 16th century, the sense of ''artful'' (1613) and ''artless''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart finds ''art'' used of music, dancing, drama and literature only after 1600,^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline dates skill in the creative arts to the 1610s,^(Etymonline) and the Word Origins dictionary dates the modern sense to the mid-16th century.^(Cresswell 2021) The narrow sense “painting and sculpture” appears in the late 17th or early 18th century.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Art for art's sake'' translated a French phrase in the early 19th century and became the slogan of the Aesthetic Movement in the 1880s.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Art'' as an adjective, as in ''art song'', is from 1890, and ''art film'' from 1960.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – cunning (''King Horn'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – learning; the liberal arts.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – human workmanship.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1610s – the creative arts.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1613 – ''artful''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 17th century – painting and sculpture.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1880s – ''art for art's sake''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1890 – adjective, as in ''art song''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Human effort to imitate, add to or change the work of nature.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The creation of works that appeal to the sense of beauty, especially [[painting]] and [[sculpture]], or the works themselves.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # ''(plural)'' The [[fine arts]], such as music, dance and literature.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(plural)'' The [[humanities]], as distinct from the sciences.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A skill gained by study and practice: ''the art of conversation''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Cunning, artfulness.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[artist]]

+ * [[artisan]]

+ * [[artifice]]

+ * [[artificial]]

+ * [[article]]

+ * [[arm]]

+ * [[inert]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary groups ''art'' with ''craft'', ''expertise'', ''knack'', ''know-how'' and ''technique'', all meaning skill gained by study or practice.^(AHD) ''Art'' is also the archaic second person singular of ''be'' (''thou art''), from Old English ''eart'', which went out of use in the 19th century.^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}