from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
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Blest with each grace of nature and of art. --Pope.
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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.
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Science is systematized knowledge . . . Art is
knowledge made efficient by skill. --J. F.
Genung.
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3. The systematic application of knowledge or skill in
effecting a desired result. Also, an occupation or
business requiring such knowledge or skill.
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The fishermen can't employ their art with so much
success in so troubled a sea. --Addison.
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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.
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5. pl. Those branches of learning which are taught in the
academical course of colleges; as, master of arts.
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In fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts.
--Pope.
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Four years spent in the arts (as they are called in
colleges) is, perhaps, laying too laborious a
foundation. --Goldsmith.
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6. Learning; study; applied knowledge, science, or letters.
[Archaic]
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So vast is art, so narrow human wit. --Pope.
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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.
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8. Skillful plan; device.
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They employed every art to soothe . . . the
discontented warriors. --Macaulay.
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9. Cunning; artifice; craft.
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Madam, I swear I use no art at all. --Shak.
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Animals practice art when opposed to their superiors
in strength. --Crabb.
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10. The black art; magic. [Obs.] --Shak.
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{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.
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Note: The arts are divided into various classes.
{The useful arts},
{The mechanical arts}, or
{The 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.
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In America, literature and the elegant arts must
grow up side by side with the coarser plants of
daily necessity. --Irving.
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Syn: Science; literature; aptitude; readiness; skill;
dexterity; adroitness; contrivance; profession;
business; trade; calling; cunning; artifice; duplicity.
See {Science}.
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