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noun C2 Proficient Uncommon

artifact

AR-tuh-fakt
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Artifact (noun) means an object made or shaped by a person, especially a tool, ornament or vessel from the past that is studied for what it reveals about a culture. Example: “The dig produced hundreds of artifacts, mostly pottery fragments and bone needles.”

noun
1
An object made or shaped by a person, especially a tool, ornament or vessel from the past that is studied for what it reveals about a culture.
"The dig produced hundreds of artifacts, mostly pottery fragments and bone needles."
"Each artifact in the case is labelled with the site where it was found."
2
A distortion or false feature that appears in an image, recording or set of results because of the equipment or method used rather than because it exists in the thing being measured.
"The dark ring around the tumour turned out to be a scanning artifact."
"Heavy compression introduces blocky artifacts around fast-moving edges."
3
technical A file or package produced as an output of a software build or process and stored for later use.
"The pipeline uploads the compiled artifact to the registry after every successful build."

How to use artifact

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishSomething made by a person, or a false detail created by the equipment recording something.

When to use it

Artifact is the standard American spelling; British and Australian writing generally uses artefact for the object sense, though both spellings appear in technical fields.

Memory tip

In science and imaging, calling something an artifact means it is not real, so it is a caution rather than a discovery.

Trace the full origin ↓
Easily confused with
artefact → artifice → antique →
Common pairings
ancient artifact cultural artifact compression artifact motion artifact build artifact
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Fill the gap

Can you complete this real example?

The dig produced hundreds of _____, mostly pottery fragments and bone needles.

Etymology

From the Latin phrase arte factum 'made by skill', from ars 'art, skill' and facere 'to make'.

Origin: Latin

Synonyms

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relic antiquity find object remnant distortion glitch aberration build output package artefact

Related words

find thing feel chance subject goal lose rule

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between artifact and artefact?
They are the same word with different spellings. Artifact is standard in American English, artefact in British English. Technical and computing writing tends to use artifact everywhere, because most of the terminology originated in the United States.
What is the difference between an artifact and a fossil?
An artifact was made or modified by people, such as a blade or a bead. A fossil is the preserved remains or trace of a once-living organism, formed by natural processes with no human involvement.
What is the meaning of artifact?
"artifact" (noun) means an object made or shaped by a person, especially a tool, ornament or vessel from the past that is studied for what it reveals about a culture.
What is another word for artifact?
Other words for "artifact" include relic, antiquity, find, object, remnant, artefact.

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