9  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Art  \Art\  ([aum]rt). 
  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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Art  \Art\  ([aum]rt),  n.  [F.  art,  L.  ars,  artis,  orig.,  skill  in 
  joining  or  fitting;  prob.  akin  to  E.  arm,  aristocrat, 
  article.] 
  1.  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. 
 
  Blest  with  each  grace  of  nature  and  of  art.  --Pope. 
 
  2.  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;  as  the  art  of  building  or 
  engraving;  the  art  of  war;  the  art  of  navigation. 
 
  Science  is  systematized  knowledge  .  .  .  Art  is 
  knowledge  made  efficient  by  skill.  --J.  F. 
  Genung 
 
  3.  The  systematic  application  of  knowledge  or  skill  in 
  effecting  a  desired  result.  Also  an  occupation  or 
  business  requiring  such  knowledge  or  skill. 
 
  The  fishermen  can't  employ  their  art  with  so  much 
  success  in  so  troubled  a  sea.  --Addison. 
 
  4.  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;  as  he  prefers  art  to  literature. 
 
  5.  pl  Those  branches  of  learning  which  are  taught  in  the 
  academical  course  of  colleges;  as  master  of  arts. 
 
  In  fearless  youth  we  tempt  the  heights  of  arts. 
  --Pope. 
 
  Four  years  spent  in  the  arts  (as  they  are  called  in 
  colleges)  is  perhaps,  laying  too  laborious  a 
  foundation.  --Goldsmith. 
 
  6.  Learning;  study;  applied  knowledge,  science,  or  letters. 
  [Archaic] 
 
  So  vast  is  art,  so  narrow  human  wit.  --Pope. 
 
  7.  Skill,  dexterity,  or  the  power  of  performing  certain 
  actions,  acquired  by  experience,  study,  or  observation; 
  knack;  as  a  man  has  the  art  of  managing  his  business  to 
  advantage. 
 
  8.  Skillful  plan  device. 
 
  They  employed  every  art  to  soothe  .  .  .  the 
  discontented  warriors.  --Macaulay. 
 
  9.  Cunning;  artifice;  craft. 
 
  Madam,  I  swear  I  use  no  art  at  all  --Shak. 
 
  Animals  practice  art  when  opposed  to  their  superiors 
  in  strength.  --Crabb. 
 
  10.  The  black  art;  magic.  [Obs.]  --Shak. 
 
  {Art  and  part}  (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. 
 
  Note:  The  arts  are  divided  into  various  classes. 
 
  {The  useful,  mechanical,  or  industrial  arts}  are  those  in 
  which  the  hands  and  body  are  more  concerned  than  the  mind; 
  as  in  making  clothes  and  utensils.  These  are  called 
  trades. 
 
  {The  fine  arts}  are  those  which  have  primarily  to  do  with 
  imagination  and  taste,  and  are  applied  to  the  production 
  of  what  is  beautiful.  They  include  poetry,  music, 
  painting,  engraving,  sculpture,  and  architecture;  but  the 
  term  is  often  confined  to  painting,  sculpture,  and 
  architecture. 
 
  {The  liberal  arts}  (artes  liberales  the  higher  arts,  which 
  among  the  Romans,  only  freemen  were  permitted  to  pursue) 
  were  in  the  Middle  Ages,  these  seven  branches  of 
  learning,  --  grammar,  logic,  rhetoric,  arithmetic, 
  geometry,  music,  and  astronomy.  In  modern  times  the 
  liberal  arts  include  the  sciences,  philosophy,  history, 
  etc.,  which  compose  the  course  of  academical  or  collegiate 
  education.  Hence  degrees  in  the  arts;  master  and  bachelor 
  of  arts. 
 
  In  America,  literature  and  the  elegant  arts  must 
  grow  up  side  by  side  with  the  coarser  plants  of 
  daily  necessity.  --Irving. 
 
  Syn:  Science;  literature;  aptitude;  readiness;  skill; 
  dexterity;  adroitness;  contrivance;  profession; 
  business;  trade  calling;  cunning;  artifice;  duplicity. 
  See  {Science}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  -ard  \-ard\,  -art  \-art\ 
  The  termination  of  many  English  words  as  coward,  reynard, 
  drunkard,  mostly  from  the  French,  in  which  language  this 
  ending  is  of  German  origin,  being  orig.  the  same  word  as 
  English  hard.  It  usually  has  the  sense  of  one  who  has  to  a 
  high  or  excessive  degree  the  quality  expressed  by  the  root; 
  as  braggart,  sluggard. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  art 
  n  1:  the  products  of  human  creativity;  works  of  art  collectively 
  [syn:  {fine  art}] 
  2:  the  creation  of  beautiful  or  significant  things  "he  was  a 
  patron  of  art"  [syn:  {artistic  creation},  {artistic 
  production}] 
  3:  the  superior  ability  that  is  attained  by  study  and  practice 
  and  observation;  "he  had  mastered  the  art  of  a  great 
  craftsman"  [syn:  {artistry},  {prowess},  {superior  skill}] 
  4:  photographs  or  other  visual  representations  in  a  printed 
  publication  [syn:  {artwork},  {graphics},  {nontextual 
  matter}] 
 
  From  U.S.  Gazetteer  (1990)  [gazetteer]: 
 
  Art,  TX 
  Zip  code(s):  76820 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  ART 
 
    A  {real-time}  {functional  language}.  It  timestamps 
  each  data  value  when  it  was  created. 
 
  ["Applicative  Real-Time  Programming",  M.  Broy,  PROC  IFIP  1983, 
  N-H]. 
 
  (1996-01-15) 
 
 
 
  From  V.E.R.A.  --  Virtual  Entity  of  Relevant  Acronyms  13  March  2001  [vera]: 
 
  ART 
  Adaptive  Resonance  Theory  NN 
 
 
 
  From  V.E.R.A.  --  Virtual  Entity  of  Relevant  Acronyms  13  March  2001  [vera]: 
 
  ART 
  Advanced  Resolution  Technology  Minolta 
 
 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  ART,  n.  This  word  has  no  definition.  Its  origin  is  related  as 
  follows  by  the  ingenious  Father  Gassalasca  Jape,  S.J. 
 
  One  day  a  wag  --  what  would  the  wretch  be  at?  -- 
  Shifted  a  letter  of  the  cipher  RAT, 
  And  said  it  was  a  god's  name!  Straight  arose 
  Fantastic  priests  and  postulants  (with  shows, 
  And  mysteries,  and  mummeries,  and  hymns, 
  And  disputations  dire  that  lamed  their  limbs) 
  To  serve  his  temple  and  maintain  the  fires, 
  Expound  the  law,  manipulate  the  wires. 
  Amazed,  the  populace  that  rites  attend, 
  Believe  whate'er  they  cannot  comprehend, 
  And  inly  edified  to  learn  that  two 
  Half-hairs  joined  so  and  so  (as  Art  can  do) 
  Have  sweeter  values  and  a  grace  more  fit 
  Than  Nature's  hairs  that  never  have  been  split, 
  Bring  cates  and  wines  for  sacrificial  feasts, 
  And  sell  their  garments  to  support  the  priests. 
 
 

browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
or search   thesauri dictionary search words