craft
- an art, trade, or occupation requiring special skill, especially manual skill: the craft of a mason.
- skill; dexterity: The silversmith worked with great craft.
- skill or ability used for bad purposes; cunning; deceit; guile.
- the members of a trade or profession collectively; a guild.
- a ship or other vessel.
- a number of ships or other vessels taken as a whole: The craft were warned of possible heavy squalls.
- aircraft collectively.
- a single aircraft.
- to make or manufacture (an object, objects, product, etc.) with skill and careful attention to detail.
Origin of craft
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
Related Words
techniquearthandicraftprofessionaircraftspacecraftplanebargevesselshipairplaneboatdexterityartistryexpertnessadeptnessabilityadroitnessingenuityproficiencyExamples from the Web for craft
Contemporary Examples
The precision it took to craft such a cohesive, wholly compelling work over 12 years is nothing short of remarkable.
Oscars 2015: The Daily Beast’s Picks, From Scarlett Johansson to ‘Boyhood’Marlow Stern
January 6, 2015
Carolyn had her own customers, mostly art and craft mavens like Blanchette Rockefeller.
The Bookstore That Bewitched Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and Greta GarboFelice Picano
December 16, 2014
The Macallan represents a lifestyle; the kind that represents a person set on mastering their craft.
The Restaurant, Flask, And Photography Worthy of The Macallan WhiskyDecember 16, 2014
The Macallan collaborations have even extended past photographers to additional masters of their craft focused on innovation.
The Restaurant, Flask, And Photography Worthy of The Macallan WhiskyDecember 16, 2014
It offers keen insights into Hitch's craft while painting an intimate and unsentimental picture of the man behind the camera.
Historical Examples
But how could you be a wise master without learning the craft?
The Armourer's PrenticesCharlotte M. Yonge
Yet I hold that the true art of my craft lies as much in the furnace as in the brush.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
Nothing was said, but they got silently into the boat, which might have been Charon's craft for all he could see of it.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
The least hesitation or a false movement, and both aviator and craft are in danger.
Flying MachinesW.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
This craft was unfit for her duty, but time pressed, and no better offered.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
craft
- skill or ability, esp in handiwork
- skill in deception and trickery; guile; cunning
- an occupation or trade requiring special skill, esp manual dexterity
- the members of such a trade, regarded collectively
- (as modifier)a craft guild
- a single vessel, aircraft, or spacecraft
- (functioning as plural) ships, boats, aircraft, or spacecraft collectively
- (tr) to make or fashion with skill, esp by hand
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for craft
n.
Old English cræft, originally "power, physical strength, might," from Proto-Germanic *krab-/*kraf- (cf. Old Frisian kreft, Old High German chraft, German Kraft "strength, skill;" Old Norse kraptr "strength, virtue"). Sense expanded in Old English to include "skill, art, science, talent" (via a notion of "mental power"), which led to the meaning "trade, handicraft, calling." The word still was used for "might, power" in Middle English.
Use for "small boat" is first recorded 1670s, probably from a phrase resembling vessels of small craft and referring either to the trade they did or the seamanship they required, or perhaps it preserves the word in its original sense of "power."
v.
Old English cræftan "to exercise a craft, build," from the same source as craft (n.). Meaning "to make skilfully" is from early 15c., obsolete from 16c., but revived c.1950s, largely in U.S. advertising and commercial senses. Related: Crafted; crafting.