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term of art

American  

noun

  1. a word or phrase that has a specific or precise meaning within a given discipline or field and might have a different meaning in common usage.

    Set is a term of art used by mathematicians, and burden of proof is a term of art used by lawyers.

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.

Not to use a term of art here, but I have to hedge my answer.

From Barron's • Mar. 28, 2026

The districts must also follow the federal Voting Rights Act and group together “communities of interest,” a wide-reaching term of art for people who share languages, cultures, backgrounds, interests, ways of life or other traits.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 1, 2025

The metastatic growth of the upper-middle-class house has led to a familiar term of art: the McMansion.

From Slate • Mar. 6, 2025

“First, several scholars have argued that the term ‘officer of the United States’ is a term of art.

From Salon • Jan. 4, 2024

The word "offence" is a term of art, and is here used in its strictest technical sense.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 349, November, 1844 by Various

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.