Är'/tĭ-san, n.
(Synop., § 130), n. [Fr. artisan, Sp. artesano, It. artigiano, from Lat. artitus, skilled in arts, from ars, artis, art. See ART.]
Sense 1. One who professes and practices some liberal art; an artist. [Obs.]
Contrive me, artisan, a bowl Of silver, ample as my soul. Fawkes.
Sense 2. One trained to manual dexterity in some mechanic art, mystery, or trade; a handcraftsman; a mechanic.
This is willingly submitted to by the artisan, who can . . . compensate his additional toil and fatigue. Hume.
Synonyms—Artificer; artist.—ARTISAN, ARTIST, ARTIFICER. An artist is one who is skilled in some one of the fine arts; an artisan is one who exercises any mechanical employment. A portrait-painter is an artist; a sign-painter is an artisan. The occupation of the former requires a fine taste and delicate manipulation; that of the latter demands only an ordinary degree of contrivance and imitative power. The word artificer neither suggests the idea of vulgarity which attaches to the term artisan, nor the ideas of refinement and peculiar skill which belong to the term artist. H. Taylor.