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Origin and history of artificer

artificer(n.)

late 14c., "one who makes by art or skill," agent noun from artifice. Especially an inventor of devious artifices (c. 1600). The military sense of "soldier-mechanic" dates from 1758.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to artificer

artifice(n.)

1530s, "workmanship, the making of something by craft or skill," from French artifice "skill, cunning" (14c.), from Latin artificium "a profession, trade, employment, craft; a making by art; a work of art," from artifex (genitive artificis) "craftsman, artist, master of an art" (music, acting, sculpting, etc.), from stem of ars "art" (see art (n.)) + facere "to make, do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). The meaning "crafty device, trick" is from 1650s.

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    artisan
    1530s, "one skilled in any mechanical art, craftsman," from Italian artigiano, from Vulgar Latin *artitianus, from Latin artitus "skilled," past participle of artire "to instruct in the arts," from ars (genitive artis) "art" (see art (n.)). Barnhart reports French artisan, often
    journeyman
    "qualified worker at a craft or trade who works for wages for another" (a position between apprentice and master), early 15c., from journey (n.), preserving the etymological sense of the word ("a day"), + man (n.). Deprecatory figurative sense of "hireling, drudge" is from 1540s.
    inventor
    c. 1500, "a discoverer, one who finds out" (now obsolete), from Latin inventor (fem. inventrix, source of French inventeur (15c.), Spanish inventor, Italian inventore) "contriver, author, discoverer, proposer, founder," agent noun from past-participle stem of invenire "to come up
    carpenter
    "artificer in timber, one who does the heavier sort of wood-working," c. 1300 (attested from early 12c. as a surname), from...
    wright
    Old English wryhta, wrihta (Northumbrian wyrchta, Kentish werhta) "worker," variant of earlier wyhrta "maker," from wyrcan "to work" (see work (v.)). Now usually in combinations (wheelwright, playwright, etc.) or as a surname. A common West Germanic word; cognate with Old Saxon w
    mason
    c. 1200 (early 12c. as a surname), masoun, "stoneworker, builder in stone, one who dresses, lays, or carves stone," from Old French masson, maçon "stone mason" (Old North French machun), probaby from Frankish *makjo or some other Germanic source (compare Old High German steinmezz
    mechanic
    late 14c., of a craft or skill, "pertaining to or involving mechanical labor" (a sense now usually with mechanical), also "having to do with tools," from Latin mechanicus "of or belonging to machines or mechanics; inventive," from Greek mēkhanikos "full of resources, inventive, i
    creator
    c. 1300, "the Supreme Being, God considered as the creator of the universe" (also "the communion elements; a crucifix"), from Anglo-French creatour, Old French creator (12c., academic and liturgical, alongside popular creere, Modern French créateur), from Latin creator "creator,
    beautician
    by 1924, American English (Mencken found it in the Cleveland, Ohio, telephone directory), from beauty + ending as in technician. Beauty salon is from 1912, a substitution for prosaic beauty shop (1898). Beauty parlor is from 1894. The sudden death of a young woman a little over
    cooper
    "craftsman who makes barrels, tubs, and other vessels from wooden staves and metal hoops," late 14c. (late 12c. as a surname), either from Old English (but the word is unattested) or from a Low German source akin to Middle Dutch cuper, East Frisian kuper, from Low German kupe (Ge

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