Artist and Artisan Split Only Recently
An artist makes art. For centuries the word covered anyone skilled at a craft, and the split from artisan is younger than it looks.
An artist is someone who creates art. The separation from *artisan* is a modern one: in Renaissance Europe a painter belonged to a guild alongside apothecaries and saddlers, and the word *art* meant skill of any kind. The idea of the artist as a distinct kind of person is largely an invention of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
- A creator of art. *A working artist.*
- A performer. *A recording artist.*
- Someone skilled at something. *A con artist.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | artist | A young artist. |
| Plural | artists | Local artists. |
| Adjective | artistic | Artistic licence. |
| Noun | artistry | Sheer artistry. |
| Related | artisan | An artisan baker. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The artist works in oils.Fine art.
- A recording artist signed to the label.Music industry.
- A con artist took her savings.Skilled at deception.
Artist and its relatives
- Artisan — a skilled maker of useful things
- Artiste — a performer, often slightly arch in tone
- Artificer — a maker or craftsman, also a military trade
- Artifice — cunning or contrivance
- Artefact — something made, especially in archaeology
From French *artiste*, from Latin *ars*, skill or craft. Until the eighteenth century it could describe any master of a technique, including sciences.
Artist or artisan?
An artisan makes skilled useful objects, an artist makes work valued for expression. The line is cultural and moves over time.
Why *con artist*?
Because the older sense of artist, someone highly skilled at a technique, survives in the phrase.