Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person skilled in making a product by hand.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One skilled in any art, mystery, or trade; a handicraftsman; a mechanic.
  • noun One skilled in a fine art; an artist.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete One who professes and practices some liberal art; an artist.
  • noun One trained to manual dexterity in some mechanic art or trade; and handicraftsman; a mechanic.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A skilled manual worker who uses tools and machinery in a particular craft.
  • noun A person who displays great dexterity.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a skilled worker who practices some trade or handicraft

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably French, from Italian artigiano, from Vulgar Latin *artitiānus, from Latin artītus, skilled in the arts, past participle of artīre, to instruct in the arts, from ars, art-, art; see ar- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French artisan, from Medieval Latin *artitianus, from Latin artitus ("skilled"), past participle of artiō ("I instruct in arts"), from ars ("art, skill").

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Examples

  • The tagline "One woman's rage against the abuse of the term 'artisan' in the world of processed food" pretty much says it all.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • Salt assault: U.S. health officials want Americans to slash daily sodium intake Go green or go home: Frito-Lay and Staples to increase number of electric trucks The term 'artisan' may conjure up images of cheese makers crafting wheels of cheese the old-fashioned way and bakers mixing dough by hand.

    NYDN Rss 2011

  • According to Datamonitor, more than 800 new products released over the past five years carried the term 'artisan' on their packaging, as consumers move away from processed foods, reported industry website

    NYDN Rss 2011

  • "The word artisan suggests that the product is less likely to be mass-produced," Tom Vierhile, innovation insights director at Datamonitor, told

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • The Oaxaca artisan is a master of Mexican folk art.

    Jacobo Angeles extends a hand to show one of the paints used in his wood carvings. The Oaxaca artisan is a master of Mexican folk art. © Alvin Starkman 2008 2008

  • Recognizing that the artisan is a vital natural resource, the state of Michoacán just this year enacted the new Ley de Fomento Artesanal (Law for the Promotion of the Craft Industry), broader in scope than any other state's legislation, raising the artisan's lot and putting its imprimatur upon Vasco de Quiroga's dream.

    Santa Clara del Cobre & Erongaricuaro 2007

  • Recognizing that the artisan is a vital natural resource, the state of Michoacán just this year enacted the new Ley de Fomento Artesanal (Law for the Promotion of the Craft Industry), broader in scope than any other state's legislation, raising the artisan's lot and putting its imprimatur upon Vasco de Quiroga's dream.

    Santa Clara del Cobre & Erongaricuaro 2007

  • Recognizing that the artisan is a vital natural resource, the state of Michoacán just this year enacted the new Ley de Fomento Artesanal (Law for the Promotion of the Craft Industry), broader in scope than any other state's legislation, raising the artisan's lot and putting its imprimatur upon Vasco de Quiroga's dream.

    Santa Clara del Cobre & Erongaricuaro 2007

  • Last month, the company introduced a line of what it calls "artisan" pizzas with feta cheese instead of mozzarella or Parmesan and Tuscan salami instead of pepperoni.

    BusinessWeek.com -- Top News 2011

  • PIerre A. wrote: You knwo what we calls artisan chee ...

    Blog updates 2010

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