artificial
English
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English artificial (“man-made”), borrowed from Old French, borrowed from Latin artificiālis, from artificium (“art; skill; talent”) + -ālis.
Displaced native Old English cræftlīċ, with the earliest attestation c. 1425.[1]
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, [ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.l̩], enPR: ätəfĭsh'əl
- (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˌɑɹ.təˈfɪʃ.əl/, [ˌɑɹ.ɾəˈfɪʃ.l̩], enPR: ärtəfĭsh'əl
Audio (California): (file)
- (Australia) IPA(key): /ˌɐː.təˈfɪʃ.əl/, [ˌɐː.ɾəˈfɪʃ.l̩]
- Rhymes: -ɪʃəl
Adjective
artificial (comparative more artificial, superlative most artificial)
- Man-made; made by humans; of artifice.
- The flowers were artificial, and he thought them rather tacky.
- 2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist[2], volume 407, number 8838, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 June 2017, page 5 (Technology Quarterly):
- An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time.
- Insincere; fake, forced, or feigned.
- Her manner was somewhat artificial.
- Not natural or normal: imposed arbitrarily or without regard to the specifics or normal circumstances of a person, a situation, etc.
- 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 131:
- “How quickly have I fallen!” thought Tarzan; but in his heart he did not consider it a fall—rather, he pitied the poor creatures of Paris, penned up like prisoners in their silly clothes, and watched by policemen all their poor lives, that they might do nothing that was not entirely artificial and tiresome.
- 1990 February 19, Peter Burnham, The Political Economy of Postwar Reconstruction, Springer, →ISBN, page 73:
- This results in an artificial conflation of the individual crises experienced by Western European states and leads to imprecise judgements on the impact of Marshall. This confusing conflation is not simply the product of retrospection.
- 2002 May 9, Maxine Berg, Pat Hudson, Michael Sonenscher, Manufacture in Town and Country Before the Factory, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 35:
- [If] the economic literature of the eighteenth century is examined in terms other than the narrow categories of free trade and protection, the artificial division between the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries would break down .
- 2016 November 10, Gabriele Lakomski, Scott Eacott, Colin W. Evers, Questioning Leadership: New directions for educational organisations, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 156:
- In Alberta, for example, policy documents reinforce an artificial distinction between leadership-related activity and management.
- 2017 July 12, A. Javier Trevino, The Sociology of Law: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives, Routledge, →ISBN:
- The method of suppression is generally either an artificial conflation of public and private, in which the public is represented as private, or an artificial separation of public from private, which distracts attention from the public […]
- (taxonomy) Based on characteristics useful for identification, without regard for the formal differences used in classification.
- 1966 October, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume I, New York, N.Y.; London: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, page 3:
- Artificial keys are devised purely to facilitate determination […]
- (bridge) Conveying some meaning other than the actual contents of one's hand.
- Synonym: conventional
- Antonym: natural
- 1999, Edwin B. Kantar, Eddie Kantar Teaches Advanced Bridge Defense, page 191:
- An artificial bid doesn't necessarily show length in the suit being bid, it has an altogether different meaning.
- 2008, David Galt, Teach Yourself Visually Bridge, page 219:
- North makes an artificial call of 3♧, the cheapest suit at the 3 level, to show a very poor hand. What North holds in clubs doesn't matter at all.
Synonyms
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “unnatural”): natural
Derived terms
- artificial abortion
- artificial anus
- artificial art
- artificial bee colony
- artificial consciousness
- artificial dumbness
- artificial element
- artificial florist
- artificial general intelligence
- artificial horizon
- artificial ice
- artificial idiocy
- artificial immune system
- artificial incompetence
- artificial insemination
- artificial inseminator
- artificial intelligence
- artificialism
- artificialist
- artificiality
- artificialization
- artificialize
- artificial kidney
- artificial language
- artificial life
- artificially
- artificialness
- artificial person
- artificial respiration
- artificial rice
- artificial satellite
- artificial scarcity
- artificial script
- artificial selection
- artificial stupidity
- artificial superintelligence
- artificial sweetener
- artificial tear
- artificial tear drop
- artificial turf
- artificial unintelligence
- artilect
- bioartificial
- inartificial
- nonartificial
- overartificial
- semiartificial
- unartificial
- yeast artificial chromosome
Related terms
Descendants
- → Welsh: artiffisial
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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See also
References
- ^ Liberman, Mark (25 September 2026), “Artificial”, in Language Log[1] (in American English), University of Pennsylvania, archived from the original on 26 September 2026
- “artificial”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- artificial in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “artificial”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Aragonese
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin artificiālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /aɾtifiˈθjal/
- IPA(key): /aɾtifiˈsjal/ (Benasquese)
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: ar‧ti‧fi‧cial
Adjective
artificial (plural artificials)
Derived terms
References
- “artificial”, in Aragonario, diccionario castellano–aragonés (in Spanish)
Asturian
Etymology
From Latin artificiālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /aɾtifiˈθjal/ [aɾ.t̪i.fiˈθjal]
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: ar‧ti‧fi‧cial
Adjective
artificial (epicene, plural artificiales)
Related terms
Catalan
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin artificiālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ər.ti.fi.siˈal]
- IPA(key): (Valencia) [aɾ.ti.fi.siˈal]
- IPA(key): (Northwestern) [ar.ti.fi.siˈal]
Audio (Barcelona): (file) - Rhymes: -al
- Hyphenation: ar‧ti‧fi‧ci‧al
Adjective
artificial m or f (masculine and feminine plural artificials)
- artificial
- Antonym: natural
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “artificial”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
Chavacano
Etymology
Inherited from Spanish artificial (“artificial”).
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: ar‧ti‧fi‧cial
Adjective
artificial
Galician
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin artificiālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (standard) /aɾtifiˈθjal/ [aɾ.t̪i.fiˈθjɑɫ]
- IPA(key): (seseo) /aɾtifiˈsjal/ [aɾ.t̪i.fiˈsjɑɫ]
- Rhymes: -al
- Hyphenation: ar‧ti‧fi‧cial
Adjective
artificial m or f (plural artificiais)
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “artificial”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
Occitan
Etymology
From Latin artificiālis.
Pronunciation
Audio (Languedoc): (file)
Adjective
artificial m (feminine singular artificiala, masculine plural artificials, feminine plural artificialas)
Derived terms
- artificialament
Related terms
Portuguese
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin artificiālis. By surface analysis, artifício + -al.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /aʁ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaw/ [ah.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaʊ̯], (faster) /aʁ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaw/ [ah.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaʊ̯]
- (São Paulo) IPA(key): /aɾ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaw/ [aɾ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaʊ̯], (faster) /aɾ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaw/ [aɾ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaʊ̯]
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /aʁ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaw/ [aχ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaʊ̯], (faster) /aʁ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaw/ [aχ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaʊ̯]
- (Caipira) IPA(key): /aɻ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaw/ [aɻ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaʊ̯], (faster) /aɻ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaw/ [aɻ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaʊ̯]
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ɐɾ.ti.fiˈsjal/ [ɐɾ.ti.fiˈsjaɫ]
- (Central Portugal) IPA(key): /ɐɾ.tɨ.fɨˈsjal/ [ɐɾ.tɨ.fɨˈsjaɫ]
- (Southern Portugal) IPA(key): /ɐɾ.tɨ.fɨˈsja.li/
Adjective
artificial m or f (plural artificiais)
- artificial (made by human hand)
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “artificial”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
- “artificial”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
- “artificial”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
Romanian
Alternative forms
- артифичиал (artificial) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling
Etymology
Borrowed from French artificiel, from Latin artificialis. By surface analysis, artificiu + -al.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ar.ti.fi.t͡ʃiˈal/
- Rhymes: -al
- Hyphenation: ar‧ti‧fi‧ci‧al
Adjective
artificial m or n (feminine singular artificială, masculine plural artificiali, feminine/neuter plural artificiale)
Declension
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
| nominative- accusative |
indefinite | artificial | artificială | artificiali | artificiale | ||
| definite | artificialul | artificiala | artificialii | artificialele | |||
| genitive- dative |
indefinite | artificial | artificiale | artificiali | artificiale | ||
| definite | artificialului | artificialei | artificialilor | artificialelor | |||
Related terms
Further reading
- “artificial”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026
Spanish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin artificiālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /aɾtifiˈθjal/ [aɾ.t̪i.fiˈθjal] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
- IPA(key): /aɾtifiˈsjal/ [aɾ.t̪i.fiˈsjal] (Latin America, Philippines)
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: ar‧ti‧fi‧cial
Adjective
artificial m or f (masculine and feminine plural artificiales)
- artificial
- Antonym: natural
- 2024 December 2, Rosa Rahimi, “La palabra del año de Oxford es una condición moderna que nos resulta familiar a la mayoría de nosotros”, in CNN en Español[3], archived from the original on 20 March 2025:
- La palabra superó a otras cinco candidatas preseleccionadas, que incluían “lore”, que significa un conjunto de (supuestos) hechos, información de fondo y anécdotas necesarias para comprender algo por completo; “romantasy”, un acrónimo para literatura que combina elementos de ficción romántica y fantasía; y “slop”, que se refiere a contenido de baja calidad generado por inteligencia artificial.
- The word beat out five other shortlisted candidates, including ‘lore’, which means a set of (supposed) facts, background information and anecdotes necessary to fully understand something; ‘romantasy’, an acronym for literature that combines elements of romantic fiction and fantasy; and ‘slop’, which refers to low-quality content generated by artificial intelligence.
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “artificial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰeh₁-
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂el- (grow)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Proto-Italic
- English terms derived from Old Latin
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂er-
- English terms derived from Old French
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- Rhymes:English/ɪʃəl
- Rhymes:English/ɪʃəl/4 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
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- en:Taxonomy
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- Aragonese terms borrowed from Latin
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- Rhymes:Aragonese/al
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- Aragonese lemmas
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- Asturian terms borrowed from Latin
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- Asturian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Asturian/al
- Rhymes:Asturian/al/4 syllables
- Asturian lemmas
- Asturian adjectives
- Catalan terms derived from Old Latin
- Catalan learned borrowings from Latin
- Catalan terms borrowed from Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰeh₁-
- Catalan terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂er-
- Catalan terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂el- (grow)
- Catalan terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Catalan terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:Catalan/al
- Rhymes:Catalan/al/5 syllables
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan adjectives
- Catalan epicene adjectives
- Chavacano terms inherited from Spanish
- Chavacano terms derived from Spanish
- Chavacano lemmas
- Chavacano adjectives
- Galician terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Galician learned borrowings from Latin
- Galician terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Galician terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂er-
- Galician terms derived from Old Latin
- Galician terms derived from Latin
- Galician terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂el- (grow)
- Galician terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰeh₁-
- Galician terms borrowed from Latin
- Galician terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Galician/al
- Rhymes:Galician/al/4 syllables
- Galician lemmas
- Galician adjectives
- Galician epicene adjectives
- Occitan terms derived from Latin
- Occitan terms with audio pronunciation
- Occitan lemmas
- Occitan adjectives
- Portuguese learned borrowings from Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰeh₁-
- Portuguese terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂er-
- Portuguese terms borrowed from Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂el- (grow)
- Portuguese terms derived from Old Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Portuguese terms suffixed with -al
- Portuguese terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese 5-syllable words
- Portuguese 4-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw/5 syllables
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al/5 syllables
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese adjectives
- Portuguese epicene adjectives
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
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- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian terms suffixed with -al
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- Rhymes:Romanian/al
- Rhymes:Romanian/al/5 syllables
- Romanian lemmas
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- Spanish terms derived from Old Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂er-
- Spanish terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂el- (grow)
- Spanish learned borrowings from Latin
- Spanish terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰeh₁-
- Spanish terms borrowed from Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Spanish 4-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/al
- Rhymes:Spanish/al/4 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adjectives
- Spanish epicene adjectives
- Spanish terms with quotations