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)

    1. 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.
    2. Insincere; fake, forced, or feigned.
      Her manner was somewhat artificial.
    3. 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 […]
    4. (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 […]
    5. (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

    Descendants

    • → Welsh: artiffisial

    Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

    See also

    References

    1. ^ Liberman, Mark (25 September 2026), “Artificial”, in Language Log‎[1] (in American English), University of Pennsylvania, archived from the original on 26 September 2026

    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)

    1. artificial

    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)

    1. artificial

    Catalan

    Etymology

      Learned borrowing from Latin artificiālis.

      Pronunciation

      Adjective

      artificial m or f (masculine and feminine plural artificials)

      1. artificial
        Antonym: natural

      Derived terms

      Further reading

      Chavacano

      Etymology

      Inherited from Spanish artificial (“artificial”).

      Pronunciation

      • Hyphenation: ar‧ti‧fi‧cial

      Adjective

      artificial

      1. 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)

        1. artificial

        Derived terms

        Further reading

        Occitan

        Etymology

        From Latin artificiālis.

        Pronunciation

        Adjective

        artificial m (feminine singular artificiala, masculine plural artificials, feminine plural artificialas)

        1. artificial

        Derived terms

        • artificialament

        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)

          1. artificial (made by human hand)

          Derived terms

          Further reading

          Romanian

          Alternative forms

          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)

          1. artificial

          Declension

          Declension of artificial
          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

          Further reading

          Spanish

          Etymology

            Learned borrowing from Latin artificiālis.

            Pronunciation

            Adjective

            artificial m or f (masculine and feminine plural artificiales)

            1. 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

            Further reading