artificial

English

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artificial

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English artificial (“man-made”) via Old French (modern French artificiel), from Latin artificiālis from artificium (“skill”), from artifex, from ars (“skill”), and -fex, from facere (“to make”). Displaced native Old English cræftlīċ.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ä(r)təfĭsh'əl, IPA^(key): /ˌɑː(ɹ).təˈfɪʃ.əl/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [ˌɑːtɪˈfɪʃl]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• 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, volume 407, number 8838, 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

• artificious, factitious.

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 grammar learning
• artificial horizon
• artificial ice
• artificial idiocy
• artificial immune system
• artificial incompetence
• artificial insemination
• artificial intelligence
• artificialism
• artificialist
• artificiality
• artificialization
• artificialize
• artificial kidney
• artificial language
• artificial life
• artificially
• artificialness
• artificial person
• artificial respiration
• artificial rice
• 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

Related terms

• artifact
• artifice
• artificer

Descendants

• → Welsh: artiffisial

Translations

man-made

Albanian: artificial (sq) Arabic: مُتَصَنَّع (mutaṣannaʕ), صِنَاعِيّ (ṣināʕiyy) Aragonese: artificial Armenian: արհեստական (hy) (arhestakan) Asturian: artificial (ast) Azerbaijani: süni (az) Basque: artifizial Belarusian: шту́чны (štúčny) Bengali: কৃত্রিম (bn) (kritrim) Bulgarian: изку́ствен (bg) (izkústven) Catalan: artificial (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 人造的 (zh) (rénzào de) Czech: umělý (cs) Danish: kunstig (da), artificiel Dutch: artificieel (nl), kunstmatig (nl) Esperanto: artefarita, arta Estonian: kunstlik, tehislik Finnish: keinotekoinen (fi), teko- (fi) (in compounds), keino- (fi) (in compounds) French: artificiel (fr) Galician: artificial (gl) German: künstlich (de) Greek: τεχνητός (el) (technitós) Ancient: χειροποίητος (kheiropoíētos) Hebrew: מְלָאכוּתִי (he) (m'lakhutí) Hindi: कृत्रिम (hi) (kŕtrim) Hungarian: mesterséges (hu) Ido: artificala (io) Irish: tacair, saorga (ga) Italian: artificiale (it), artificioso (it), artefatto (it) m Japanese: 人工の (ja) (じんこうの, jinkō no) Komi-Zyrian: лӧсьӧдӧм (löśödöm) Korean: 인공(人工) (ko) (in'gong), 인조(人造) (ko) (injo) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: destkar (ku) Lithuanian: dirbtinis (lt) Macedonian: вештачки (veštački) Malayalam: കൃത്രിമം (ml) (kr̥trimaṁ) Marathi: कृत्रिम (krutrim) Mongolian: Cyrillic: хиймэл (mn) (xiimel) Nahuatl: tlachihualli, tlacachihualli Norman: artificiel Norwegian: Bokmål: kunstig (no) Occitan: artificial (oc) Old English: cræftlīċ Persian: ساختگی (fa) (sâxtagi), مصنوعی (fa) (masnu'i) Polish: sztuczny (pl), artyficjalny (pl) (archaic) Portuguese: artificial (pt) Punjabi: ਬਣਾਉਟੀ (baṇāuṭī) Romanian: artificial (ro) Russian: иску́сственный (ru) (iskússtvennyj) Sanskrit: कृत्रिम (sa) (kṛtrima), कल्पित (sa) (kalpita) Scottish Gaelic: fuadain Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: вѐшта̄чкӣ, вјѐшта̄чкӣ Roman: vèštāčkī (sh), vjèštāčkī (sh), umjetan (sh) (Croatia) Slovak: umelý Slovene: umeten Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: kumštny Spanish: artificial (es) Swedish: konstgjord (sv), artificiell (sv) Tagalog: gawa-gawa, balat-bunga Telugu: కృత్రిమమైన (te) (kr̥trimamaina) Thai: เทียม (th) (tiiam) Turkish: yapay (tr), suni (tr) Udmurt: лэсьтэм (leśtem) Ukrainian: шту́чний (štúčnyj) Uyghur: سۈنئىي (sün'iy) Uzbek: sunʼiy (uz) Vietnamese: nhân tạo (vi) Volapük: mekavik (vo)

false, misleading

Albanian: artificial (sq) Armenian: արհեստական (hy) (arhestakan) Asturian: artificial (ast) Azerbaijani: süni (az), saxta (az), uydurma (az) Bulgarian: прикри́т (bg) (prikrít) Catalan: artificial (ca), fals (ca) Dutch: kunstmatig (nl), nagemaakt (nl), artificieel (nl) Finnish: teennäinen (fi) Galician: falso (gl) m German: künstlich (de) Greek: τεχνητός (el) (technitós), επίπλαστος (el) (epíplastos) Ancient: πλαστός (plastós) Hungarian: mesterkélt (hu) Italian: artificioso (it), falso (it), artefatto (it) m Macedonian: вештачки (veštački) Old English: cræftlīċ Portuguese: artificial (pt), falso (pt) Romanian: fals (ro), artificial (ro) Russian: иску́сственный (ru) (iskússtvennyj), притво́рный (ru) (pritvórnyj) Scottish Gaelic: breugach, fuadain Slovene: narejen Spanish: artificial (es) Swedish: konstlad (sv) Thai: เทียม (th) (tiiam) Turkish: yapay (tr), sahte (tr), yapmacık (tr)

unnatural

Albanian: artificial (sq) Armenian: արհեստական (hy) (arhestakan) Asturian: artificial (ast) Azerbaijani: süni (az) Bengali: কৃত্রিম (bn) (kritrim) Bulgarian: неесте́ствен (bg) (neestéstven), прину́ден (bg) (prinúden) Catalan: artificial (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 人為 / 人为 (zh) (rénwéi) Dutch: kunstmatig (nl), artificieel (nl), onnatuurlijk (nl), nagemaakt (nl) Esperanto: arta, nenatura Finnish: teennäinen (fi), luonnoton (fi) Galician: artificial (gl) m or f German: unnatürlich (de), affektiert (de) Greek: τεχνητός (el) (technitós), αφύσικος (el) (afýsikos) Hungarian: mesterséges (hu) Italian: innaturale (it), artefatto (it) m Japanese: 人為的な (ja) (じんいてきな, jin'iteki na) Korean: 인위적(人爲的) (ko) (inwijeok) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: deskar, destkar (ku) Macedonian: вештачки (veštački), неприроден (nepriroden) Portuguese: artificial (pt) Romanian: nenatural (ro), artificial (ro) Russian: иску́сственный (ru) (iskússtvennyj), ненатура́льный (ru) (nenaturálʹnyj), неесте́ственный (ru) (nejestéstvennyj) Spanish: artificial (es) Swedish: konstlad (sv) Telugu: అసహజమైన (asahajamaina) Thai: เทียม (th) (tiiam) Turkish: yapay (tr), yapmacık (tr)

based on characteristics useful for identification

Spanish: artificial (es)

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

Translations to be checked

French: (please verify) artificiel (fr) Ido: (please verify) artificala (io) Latin: (please verify) artificialis, (please verify) artificiosus Turkish: (please verify) yapay (tr)

See also

• fake

References

• “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 E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “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)
• Syllabification: ar‧ti‧fi‧cial
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

artificial (plural artificials)

1. artificial

Derived terms

• intelichencia artificial

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

Related terms

• artificiu

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin artificiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ər.ti.fi.siˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aɾ.ti.fi.siˈal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: ar‧ti‧fi‧ci‧al

Adjective

artificial m or f (masculine and feminine plural artificials)

1. artificial

   Antonym: natural

Derived terms

• artificialment
• intel·ligència artificial
• selecció artificial

Related terms

• artifici

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

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin artificiālis.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /aɾtifiˈθjal/ [aɾ.t̪i.fiˈθjɑɫ]

• 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

• artificialmente

Related terms

• artificio

Further reading

• “artificial”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin artificiālis.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

Adjective

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

1. artificial

Derived terms

• artificialament

Related terms

• artifici

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin artificiālis. By surface analysis, artifício +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aʁ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaw/ [ah.t͡ʃi.fi.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /aʁ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaw/ [ah.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aʁ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaw/ [ah.t͡ʃi.fi.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /aʁ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaw/ [ah.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /aɾ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaw/ [aɾ.t͡ʃi.fi.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /aɾ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaw/ [aɾ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /aʁ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaw/ [aχ.t͡ʃi.fi.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /aʁ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaw/ [aχ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaʊ̯]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /aɻ.t͡ʃi.fi.siˈaw/ [aɻ.t͡ʃi.fi.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /aɻ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaw/ [aɻ.t͡ʃi.fiˈsjaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐɾ.ti.fiˈsjal/ [ɐɾ.ti.fiˈsjaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐɾ.ti.fiˈsjal/ [ɐɾ.ti.fiˈsjaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐɾ.ti.fiˈsja.li/

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -aw, (Portugal) -al
• Hyphenation: ar‧ti‧fi‧ci‧al

Adjective

artificial m or f (plural artificiais)

1. artificial

Derived terms

• ânus artificial
• artificialidade
• artificialismo
• artificialista
• artificialmente
• inseminação artificial
• inteligência artificial
• seleção artificial

Related terms

• artífice
• artifício
• artificioso

Further reading

• “artificial”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French artificiel, from Latin artificialis. By surface analysis, artificiu +‎ -al.

Adjective

artificial m or n (feminine singular artificială, masculine plural artificiali, feminine and 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

Related terms

• artificializa

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin artificiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɾtifiˈθjal/ [aɾ.t̪i.fiˈθjal] (Spain)
• 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)

1. artificial

   Antonym: natural

Derived terms

• artificialidad
• artificialmente
• fuego artificial
• innivación artificial
• inseminación artificial
• inteligencia artificial
• respiración artificial

Related terms

• artificio
• artificioso

Further reading

• “artificial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024