Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • The second person singular, indicative mood, present tense, of the verb be (which see).
  • To force; compel; constrain.
  • To induce; incite.
  • Also written arct.
  • noun The combination or modification of things to adapt them to a given end; the employment of given means to effect a purpose.
  • noun Skill; dexterity; an especial facility in performing any operation, intellectual or physical, acquired by experience or study; knack.
  • noun Artfulness; cunning.
  • noun A system of rules and traditional methods for facilitating the performance of certain actions; acquaintance with such rules or skill in applying them, as in any manual trade or handicraft, technical profession, or physical accomplishment: as, the art of building or of engraving; the healing art; the art of music or of dancing; the practical or the elegant arts: in this sense opposed to science.
  • noun An organized body of men practising a given trade, and carrying out an established system of rules and traditions; a guild.
  • noun A branch of learning regarded as an instrument of thought, or as something the knowledge of which is to be acquired in order to be applied or practised: chiefly in the plural, and in such phrases as master of arts, faculty of arts, etc.
  • noun Esthetics; the science and theory of beauty in perception and expression.
  • noun Artistic or esthetic quality; the exhibition of the power of perceiving the beautiful and of expressing it in artistic forms: as, a picture skilfully painted, but devoid of art. The actual production or construction of objects beautiful in form, color, or sound; the practical application of esthetic principles, as in the departments of production specifically called the fine arts (which see, below); especially, painting and sculpture.
  • noun Synonyms Aptitude, readiness, address, tact, adroitness, contrivance.
  • noun Shrewdness, subtlety, cunning, artifice, deceit, duplicity.
  • noun Art, Science. The essential diference between an art and a science is in aim. “Science and art may be said to be investigations of truth, but science inquires for the sake of knowledge, art for the sake of production.” (Karslake.) Hence, they differ somewhat in that with which they are concerned. “An art directly and immediately concerns itself with a faculty…. It fastens upon that, and keeps it ever in its view as it teaches how that may be developed, trained, and guided. A science, on the other hand, regards rather the product of faculty, and, keeping its view directly upon that, proceeds to unfold its nature and proper characteristics.”(H. N. Day, Art of Discourse, § 1.) Incidental to this difference is a difference in method, science being analytic and critical, while art is synthetic and constructive. In the matter which makes up the body of the two an art, involves the means of discipline in the use of the knowledge which may have been furnished by a corresponding science. The same branch of knowledge may be regarded as either a science or an art. It may be viewed theoretically, as seeking, coördinating, arranging, and systematizing knowledge, and by observation, comparison, abstraction, and generalization deducing laws; or as, with more or less reference to such preparatory work, framing rules which are the lessons of experience, and are designed to facilitate work or give it superior excellence. The more complete the scientific basis of an art, the more perfect the art. There is a secondary use of the word science by which it stands for an art that thus rests upon a science, as in the following:
  • A suffix, another form of -ard, as in braggart.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • The second person singular, indicative mode, present tense, of the substantive verb be; but formed after the analogy of the plural are, with the ending -t, as in thou shalt, wilt, orig. an ending of the second person sing. pret. Cf. be. Now used only in solemn or poetical style.
  • noun The employment of means to accomplish some desired end; the adaptation of things in the natural world to the uses of life; the application of knowledge or power to practical purposes.
  • noun A system of rules serving to facilitate the performance of certain actions; a system of principles and rules for attaining a desired end; method of doing well some special work; -- often contradistinguished from science or speculative principles
  • noun The systematic application of knowledge or skill in effecting a desired result. Also, an occupation or business requiring such knowledge or skill.
  • noun The application of skill to the production of the beautiful by imitation or design, or an occupation in which skill is so employed, as in painting and sculpture; one of the fine arts.
  • noun Those branches of learning which are taught in the academical course of colleges.
  • noun Archaic Learning; study; applied knowledge, science, or letters.
  • noun Skill, dexterity, or the power of performing certain actions, acquired by experience, study, or observation; knack.
  • noun Skillful plan; device.
  • noun Cunning; artifice; craft.
  • noun obsolete The black art; magic.
  • noun (Scots Law) share or concern by aiding and abetting a criminal in the perpetration of a crime, whether by advice or by assistance in the execution; complicity.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A diminutive of the male given name Arthur.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the creation of beautiful or significant things
  • noun the products of human creativity; works of art collectively
  • noun photographs or other visual representations in a printed publication
  • noun a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation

Etymologies

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Examples

  • One chorus was enough to convince anyone that jazz was art and, further, that Art was jazz.

    Tatum's Art Changed Jazz 2009

  • The alphabet has also been engraved to several sizes, and is used for the initial letters in the various official books and art publications relating to the museum, which are published by the Science and Art

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 484, April 11, 1885 Various

  • Without going into a history of the Preraphaelite Brotherhood, it will be noted that the band of enthusiasts in art, literature and architecture had been swung by the arguments and personality of William Morris into the strong current of his own belief, and this was that Art and Life in the Middle Ages were much lovelier things than they are now.

    Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great Hubbard, Elbert, 1856-1915 1916

  • _Aristotle on the Art of Poetry_ may be read profitably before taking up the more elaborate discussions in Butcher's _Aristotle's Theory of Poetry and Fine Art_.

    A Study of Poetry Bliss Perry 1907

  • Art, therefore, is properly and essentially _one_: accordingly I take care to use the phrase _several forms of Art_, and not _several arts_.

    Shakespeare: His Life, Art, And Characters, Volume I. With An Historical Sketch Of The Origin And Growth Of The Drama In England Henry Norman Hudson 1850

  • One need not go beyond the limits of the British Museum to be profoundly accomplished in all branches of science, art, and literature; only it would take a lifetime to exhaust it in any one department; but to see it as we did, and with no prospect of ever seeing it more at leisure, only impressed me with the truth of the old apothegm, "Life is short, and Art is long."

    Passages from the English Notebooks, Complete Nathaniel Hawthorne 1834

  • One need not go beyond the limits of the British Museum to be profoundly accomplished in all branches of science, art, and literature; only it would take a lifetime to exhaust it in any one department; but to see it as we did, and with no prospect of ever seeing it more at leisure, only impressed me with the truth of the old apothegm, "Life is short, and Art is long."

    Passages from the English Notebooks, Volume 1. Nathaniel Hawthorne 1834

  • SCCG judges will be led by community art leaders: Art Commissioner Sandy Fisher, art educator Jaylene Armstrong and Jeff Barber, City Supervisor for Art and Events, who will judge the week before.

    SCV Highlights Carol Rock 2010

  • Yuri Trushin will be selecting up to 10 art assistants who will help in the creation of Art

    Cleburne Times-Review, Cleburne, TX Homepage 2010

  • Yuri Trushin will be selecting up to 10 art assistants who will help in the creation of Art

    Cleburne Times-Review, Cleburne, TX Homepage 2010

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