different between artifice vs shifter

English

Etymology

From Middle French artifice, from Latin artificium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???(?)t?f?s/

Noun

artifice (countable and uncountable, plural artifices)

1. A crafty but underhanded deception.
2. A trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse.
3. A strategic maneuver that uses some clever means to avoid detection or capture.
4. A tactical move to gain advantage.
5. (archaic) Something made with technical skill; a contrivance.

Translations

Verb

artifice (third-person singular simple present artifices, present participle artificing, simple past and past participle artificed)

1. To construct by means of skill or specialised art

Related terms

• artificial

Further reading

• artifice at OneLook Dictionary Search
• artifice in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• actifier

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin artificium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a?.ti.fis/

Noun

artifice m (plural artifices)

1. artifice, trick, ploy
2. (literary) device

Derived terms

• artificiel
• feu d'artifice
• sans artifice

Further reading

• “artifice” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Noun

artifice

1. ablative singular of artifex

English

Etymology

shift +? -er

Noun

shifter (plural shifters)

1. One who, or that which, shifts or changes.
2. (linguistics) A word whose meaning changes depending on the situation, as by deixis.
3. (dated) One who plays tricks or practices artifice; a cozener.
4. (nautical) An assistant to the ship's cook in washing, steeping, and shifting the salt provisions.
5. (engineering) An arrangement for shifting a belt sidewise from one pulley to another.
6. (engineering, textiles) A wire for changing a loop from one needle to another, as in narrowing, etc.
7. (cycling) A component used by the rider to control the gearing mechanisms and select the desired gear ratio, usually connected to the derailleur by a mechanical actuation cable.
8. A spanner with an adjustable jaw size.
9. (mining, historical) A person employed to repair the horseways and other passages, and keep them unobstructed.
10. (US, Pennsylvania) A switcher or shunter: a railroad locomotive used for shunting.
11. (mythology, science fiction, fantasy) A shape-shifter, or a person or other being capable of changing their physical form.
12. (erotica) A genre of erotica focusing on lycanthropes or other shapeshifters, such as werewolves.

Synonyms

• (shapeshifter): See Thesaurus:shape-shifter.

Derived terms

• shifter cart
• phase shifter
• video shifter

Anagrams

• reshift