artefact
Britishnoun
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something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest
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anything man-made, such as a spurious experimental result
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cytology a structure seen in tissue after death, fixation, staining, etc, that is not normally present in the living tissue
Etymology
Origin of artefact
C19: from Latin phrase arte factum, from ars skill + facere to make
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Police will allege the man was found in possession of the last missing artefact, the wooden cat sculpture," they said.
From Barron's • Feb. 16, 2026
Jane Bishop, owner of the Walpole Bay Hotel in the town, said it was "sad" that Margate's "important artefact" could no longer be enjoyed by visitors.
From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026
"Some things are too precious to take a risk with," the artist wrote in an opinion piece for the daily Independent about plans for the 11th-century artefact.
From Barron's • Jan. 15, 2026
The coin went for considerably less than the only other similar artefact to go under the hammer, which was sold last year in Switzerland for around £50,000.
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2025
According to these historians, replication is a social artefact, not a natural fact.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
