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art¹

(ärt)

a. The conscious use of the imagination in the production of objects intended to be contemplated or appreciated as beautiful, as in the arrangement of forms, sounds, or words.

b. Such activity in the visual or plastic arts: takes classes in art at the college.

c. Products of this activity; imaginative works considered as a group: art on display in the lobby.

2. A field or category of art, such as music, ballet, or literature.

3. A nonscientific branch of learning; one of the liberal arts.

4. A skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of negotiation. See Synonyms at skill.

a. arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks.

b. Artful contrivance; cunning.

6. Printing Illustrative material, especially in contrast to text.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ars, art-; see ar- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

art²

(ərt; ärt when stressed)

v.
Archaic

A second person singular present indicative of be.

[Middle English, from Old English eart; see er-¹ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

-art

suff.

Variant of -ard.

art.

abbr.

article

ART

abbr.

antiretroviral therapy

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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