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art

ART/ɑɹt/AHT/ɑːt/

Pluralarts (some meanings)

7 meanings of art

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  1. 1
    creative worksnoununcountable
    Things people make to be looked at, like paintings or sculptures.

    The museum has art from all over the world.

    She hung her favorite art on the bedroom wall.

    UsageFor one painting or statue, say a work of art.

    Similarartwork, works, pieces

  2. 2
    creative activitynouncountable
    Making paintings, music, dance or other things that show feelings or ideas or are beautiful, or any one such activity.

    Painting is one art she has always wanted to learn.

    Music is an art that brings people together.

    UsageThe arts means music, painting, dance and writing together.

  3. 3
    nouncountable
    A special skill you learn by doing, which needs good judgment and not only rules.

    Listening well is an art that anyone can learn.

    Negotiation is an art he picked up over many years.

    UsageOften the art of something: the art of cooking.

    Similarskill, craft, knack, technique

    Note
  4. 4
    noun
    School and college subjects about people and culture, like languages, history and literature, not the sciences.

    He got an arts degree in history and now works at a museum.

    At college she took classes in both the arts and the sciences.

    Similarhumanities

    Oppositesciences

    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 5
    creative qualitynoununcountable
    The beauty or value something has as a creative work.

    There is real art in the way the old bridge curves over the river.

    The old stone bridge is plain, but there is real art in its curve.

    UsageOften there is art in how something is done.

    Similarartistry, beauty, craftsmanship, style, aesthetics

  2. 6
    you areverbarchaic
    Second-person singular present of be. An old form of are, used only with thou, as in thou art.

    Thou art my truest friend.

    Where art thou hiding now?

    UsageIn questions, put art before thou: Art thou ready?

    Note
  3. 7
    schemingnoundateduncountable
    Sly tricks and scheming used to fool or control other people.

    He got the old man's money by art and flattery, not by honest work.

    it was not art, Of wisdom and of justice when he spoke— When ’mid soft looks of pity, there would dart A glance as keen as is the lightning’s stroke When it doth rive the knots of some ancestral oak.
    1817, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam.”Here, art means clever scheming or trickery used to fool people.

    Similarcunning, guile, artifice, craft, trickery

    Oppositehonesty, sincerity, candor, artlessness

    Note

More uses

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Origins

Meanings 1–5, 7

It comes from Latin "ars," meaning "art," which reached English through Old French.

Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

Meaning 6

This is an old form meaning "(thou) art," from Old English "eart," a form of the verb "to be."

Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts