Revised 2008

artesiannoun & adjective

Etymology
Meaning & use
Pronunciation
Frequency
Compounds & derived words

Quotations

Hide all quotations

Factsheet

What does the word artesian mean?

There are three meanings listed in OED's entry for the word artesian. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

See meaning & use

How common is the word artesian?

About 0.3occurrences per million words in modern written English

1780	0.0032
1790	0.0029
1800	0.0027
1810	0.0064
1820	0.019
1830	0.056
1840	0.12
1850	0.22
1860	0.34
1870	0.51
1880	0.68
1890	0.9
1900	0.96
1910	1.0
1920	0.98
1930	0.94
1940	0.77
1950	0.7
1960	0.6
1970	0.48
1980	0.36
1990	0.29
2000	0.25
2010	0.22

See frequency

How is the word artesian pronounced?

British English

/ɑːˈtiːzɪən/

ar-TEE-zee-uhn

/ɑːˈtiːʒn/

ar-TEE-zhuhn

U.S. English

/ɑrˈtiʒ(ə)n/

ar-TEE-zhuhn

See pronunciation

Where does the word artesian come from?

Earliest known use

early 1600s

The earliest known use of the word artesian is in the early 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for artesian is from 1629, in a translation by T. Browne.

artesian is a borrowing from French.

Etymons: French artésien.

See etymology

Nearby entries

arterious, adj.1578–
arteriovenous, adj.1740–
arteriovenous anastomosis, n.1842–
arteritic, adj.1844–
arteritis, n.1820–
arterize, v.1600
arterizing, adj.1600
artery, n.a1398–
artery, v.1843–
artery-clogging, n. & adj.1955–
artesian, n. & adj.1629–
artesian well, n.1829–
Artex, n.1926–
artex, v.1976–
art-for-arter, n.1916–
art-for-art's-saker, n.1903–
art form, n.1855–
artful, adj.1590–
Artful Dodger, n.1839–
artfully, adv.1608–
artfulness, n.1670–

Browse more nearby entries

Etymology

Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary

To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.

View our subscription options

Personal account

Access or purchase personal subscriptions
Get our newsletter
Save searches
Set display preferences

Institutional access

Recommend to your librarian

Institutional account management

Meaning & use

Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary

To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.

View our subscription options

Personal account

Access or purchase personal subscriptions
Get our newsletter
Save searches
Set display preferences

Institutional access

Recommend to your librarian

Institutional account management

Pronunciation

Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary

To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.

View our subscription options

Personal account

Access or purchase personal subscriptions
Get our newsletter
Save searches
Set display preferences

Institutional access

Recommend to your librarian

Institutional account management

Frequency

Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary

To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.

View our subscription options

Personal account

Access or purchase personal subscriptions
Get our newsletter
Save searches
Set display preferences

Institutional access

Recommend to your librarian

Institutional account management

Compounds & derived words

Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary

To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.

View our subscription options

Personal account

Access or purchase personal subscriptions
Get our newsletter
Save searches
Set display preferences

Institutional access

Recommend to your librarian

Institutional account management

Entry history for artesian, n. & adj.

artesian, n. & adj. was revised in December 2008.

artesian, n. & adj. was last modified in July 2023.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into artesian, n. & adj. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1885)

Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

Find out more
View artesian, a. in OED Second Edition

Cite

Chicago

Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “,” , .

Copied to clipboard

MLA9

“” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, , .

Copied to clipboard

Select format to download citation

Contribute

Please submit your feedback for artesian, n. & adj.

Please include your email address if you are happy to be contacted about your
feedback. OUP will not use this email address for any other purpose.

Section (required)

Feedback (required)

Citation details

Factsheet for artesian, n. & adj.

Browse entry

Nearby entries

arterious, adj.1578–
arteriovenous, adj.1740–
arteriovenous anastomosis, n.1842–
arteritic, adj.1844–
arteritis, n.1820–
arterize, v.1600
arterizing, adj.1600
artery, n.a1398–
artery, v.1843–
artery-clogging, n. & adj.1955–
artesian, n. & adj.1629–
artesian well, n.1829–
Artex, n.1926–
artex, v.1976–
art-for-arter, n.1916–
art-for-art's-saker, n.1903–
art form, n.1855–
artful, adj.1590–
Artful Dodger, n.1839–
artfully, adv.1608–
artfulness, n.1670–

Browse more nearby entries