different between item vs artifact

English

Etymology

From Middle English item, from Latin item (“also; in the same manner”). The present English meaning derives from a usage in lists, where the first entry would begin in primis (“firstly”) or imprimis, and the other entries with item (“also, moreover”). Later, people less familiar with Latin, seeing such lists, took the word "item" as meaning "a member of a list".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?t?m/
  • (US) IPA^(key): [?a????m], [?a???m?]
• Hyphenation: item

Noun

item (plural items)

1. A distinct physical object.
2. (by extension, video games) An object that can be picked up for later use.
3. A line of text having a legal or other meaning; a separate particular in an account.

4. (psychometrics) A question on a test, which may include its answers.

5. A matter for discussion in an agenda.

6. (informal) Two people who are having a relationship with each other.
   • 2010, Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris, Baby

     Are we an item? Girl, quit playin' / "We're just friends," what are you sayin'?

7. A short article in a newspaper.

8. (obsolete) A hint; an innuendo.

   • A secret item was given to some of the bishops […] to absent themselves.

Synonyms

• (object): article, object, thing
• (line of text having a legal or semantic meaning):
• (matter for discussion): subject, topic
• (two people who are having a relationship with each other): couple
• (psychometrics): test/assessment question

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

item (third-person singular simple present items, present participle iteming, simple past and past participle itemed)

1. (transitive) To make a note of.

Related terms

• itemize

Adverb

item (not comparable)

1. likewise

Anagrams

• -time, METI, emit, it me, mite, time

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [??t?m]

Adverb

item

1. (archaic) as well

   Synonyms: také, rovn?ž, dále, krom? toho

Further reading

• item in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• item in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

French

Etymology

Latin.

Adverb

item

1. same; in the same way

Further reading

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

Italian

Etymology 1

From Latin item.

Adverb

item

1. (law) in the same way.

Etymology 2

From English item, from Latin item.

Noun

item m (invariable)

1. (computer science) A single programmed unit.
2. (linguistics) An element of a grammatical or lexical set.

Latin

Etymology

Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *éy and *só. Compare ita and itidem.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?i.tem/, [??t????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?i.tem/, [?i?t??m]

Adverb

item (not comparable)

1. just like (in a comparison)

Related terms

References

• item in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• item in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• item in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Middle English

Etymology

From Latin item.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?i?t?m/

Adverb

item

1. also, and this.

References

• “item, adv. & n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-25.

Noun

item

1. the same; identical.

Descendants

• English: item
• Scots: eetem

References

• “item, adv. & n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-25.

Middle French

Etymology

Latin.

Adverb

item

1. same; in the same way

Old French

Etymology

Latin.

Adverb

item

1. same; in the same way

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin item (“also; in the same manner”).

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /?i.t?m/, /?i.t??j?/
• Hyphenation: i?tem

Noun

item m (plural itens)

1. item
2. A matter for discussion in an agenda or elsewhere.

3. A line of text with some meaning.

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.