Meaning of artifact in English

artifact

US (also mainly UK artefact)

/ˈɑːr.t̬ə.fækt/ uk

/ˈɑː.tə.fækt/

an object that has been made by a person, such as a tool or a decoration, especially one that is of historical interest:

The museum's collection includes artifacts dating back to prehistoric times.

The house displays a number of paintings of the poet, as well as his typewriter and other personal artifacts.

science specialized

something that is seen in a scientific experiment or study that does not exist naturally, but has been caused by the way the experiment or study is done:

It should be remembered that a "household" is a statistical artifact created by data limitations.

Getting the data from two different groups provided a check on whether the results are an artifact of cultural differences, or if they are universal.

computing specialized

a fault in a digital image or in data that appears as a result of the methods used to create it:

Digital systems allow manipulation such as the removal of artifacts.

MPEG artifacts are not an issue in this transfer.

More examplesFewer examples

Archaeologists have uncovered more than 100,000 artifacts at the site, ranging from arrowheads to jewelry.
As well as texts, inscriptions, and artifacts, studies of ancient India have utilized evidence from linguistics, population genetics, anthropology, and the study of myth.
He began collecting Native American artifacts.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Archeology

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Objects - general words

Creating and producing

Testing, checking and experimenting

Computer programming & software

(Definition of artifact from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

artifact | Intermediate English

artifact

noun [ C ]

/ˈɑr·t̬əˌfækt/

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an object, such as a tool, that was made in the past:

The museum has artifacts dating back to prehistoric times.

(Definition of artifact from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of artifact

artifact

The excavation has so far yielded over 2,800 artifacts.

From Gizmodo

The piece noted that some of these artifacts have even surfaced online.

From Los Angeles Times

The museum's 11 massive galleries display, in total, more than 30,000 priceless artifacts spanning 400 years.

From CBS News

When the museum opens later this month, it will have on display more than 3,000 artifacts.

From ABC News

They are among the artifacts that were recovered from the wreckage.

From New York Daily News

Authors build on the cultural artifacts around them.

From Huffington Post

They passed a law forbidding artifacts from leaving the country.

From NPR

Fortunately, the exhibition keeps background information in proportion, allowing the artifacts on view to evoke the drama of a new belief system steamrolling indigenous mythologies.

From San Francisco Chronicle

Here was an easily digestible artifact that satisfied all needs.

From Ars Technica

Descriptions like these seem quaint artifacts of less enlightened times.

From The Atlantic

What if we caught an advanced alien civilization in the process of building such an artifact?

From Slate Magazine

It's like artifacts lined up in a museum.

From Ars Technica

Almost all the artifacts that we value as a society were made by the order of men.

From The Atlantic

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of artifact?