different between artifact vs contrivance

English

Etymology

Alteration of artefact, from Italian artefatto, from Latin arte (“by skill”) (ablative of ars (“art”)) + factum (“thing made”) (from facio (“to make, do”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???t?fækt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???t?fækt/, [-??-], [-??-]
• Hyphenation: ar?ti?fact

Noun

artifact (plural artifacts)

1. An object made or shaped by human hand or labor.
2. An object made or shaped by some agent or intelligence, not necessarily of direct human origin.
3. Something viewed as a product of human agency or conception rather than an inherent element.
   • 2004, Philip Weiss, American Taboo: A Murder In The Peace Corps

     The very act of looking at a naked model was an artifact of male supremacy.
4. A finding or structure in an experiment or investigation that is not a true feature of the object under observation, but is a result of external action, the test arrangement, or an experimental error.

5. (archaeology) An object, such as a tool, ornament, or weapon of archaeological or historical interest, especially such an object found at an archaeological excavation.
6. (biology) An appearance or structure in protoplasm due to death, the method of preparation of specimens, or the use of reagents, and not present during life.
7. (computing) A perceptible distortion that appears in an audio or video file or a digital image as a result of applying a lossy compression algorithm.

Usage notes

The spelling artifact is preferred by most American dictionaries, while artefact is the preferred spelling in Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary with artifact listed as a variant.

Alternative forms

• artefact (Australian and British spelling)

Translations

Further reading

• artifact in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “artifact”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

English

Etymology

contrive +? -ance

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?t?a?.v?ns/

Noun

contrivance (plural contrivances)

1. a (mechanical) device to perform a certain task
2. a means, such as an elaborate plan or strategy, to accomplish a certain objective
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 266b.

     And along with each of these go their images, not the things themselves, — they too have come about by godlike contrivance.

3. something overly artful or artificial

Synonyms

• contraption

Related terms

• contrive

Translations

Further reading

• contrivance in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• contrivance in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.