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art

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art

1[ahrt]
–noun
1. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
2. the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria; works of art collectively, as paintings, sculptures, or drawings: a museum of art; an art collection.
3. a field, genre, or category of art: Dance is an art.
4. the fine arts collectively, often excluding architecture: art and architecture.
5. any field using the skills or techniques of art: advertising art; industrial art.
6. (in printed matter) illustrative or decorative material: Is there any art with the copy for this story?
7. the principles or methods governing any craft or branch of learning: the art of baking; the art of selling.
8. the craft or trade using these principles or methods.
9. skill in conducting any human activity: a master at the art of conversation.
10. a branch of learning or university study, esp. one of the fine arts or the humanities, as music, philosophy, or literature.
11. arts,
a. (used with a singular verb) the humanities: a college of arts and sciences.
b. (used with a plural verb) liberal arts.
12. skilled workmanship, execution, or agency, as distinguished from nature.
13. trickery; cunning: glib and devious art.
14. studied action; artificiality in behavior.
15. an artifice or artful device: the innumerable arts and wiles of politics.
16. Archaic. science, learning, or scholarship.

Origin:
1175–1225; ME < OF, acc. of ars < L ars (nom.), artem (acc.)

art

2[ahrt]
–verb Archaic.
2nd pers. sing. pres. indic. of be.

Origin:
bef. 950; ME; OE eart, equiv. to ear- (see are 1 ) + -t ending of 2nd pers. sing.

Art

[ahrt]
–noun
a male given name, form of Arthur.

ART

Linguistics.
article: often used to represent the class of determiners, including words such as this, that, and some as well as the articles a, an, and the.

-art

var. of -ard: braggart.

art.

plural arts. for 1.
1. article; articles.
2. artificial.
3. artillery.
4. artist.

be

[bee; unstressed bee, bi] verb and auxiliary verb, present singular 1st person am, 2nd are or (Archaic) art, 3rd is, present plural are; past singular 1st person was, 2nd were or (Archaic) wast or wert, 3rd was, past plural were; present subjunctive be; past subjunctive singular 1st person were, 2nd were or (Archaic) wert, 3rd were; past subjunctive plural were; past participle been; present participle be⋅ing.
–verb (used without object)
1. to exist or live: Shakespeare's “To be or not to be” is the ultimate question.
2. to take place; happen; occur: The wedding was last week.
3. to occupy a place or position: The book is on the table.
4. to continue or remain as before: Let things be.
5. to belong; attend; befall: May good fortune be with you.
6. (used as a copula to connect the subject with its predicate adjective, or predicate nominative, in order to describe, identify, or amplify the subject): Martha is tall. John is president. This is she.
7. (used as a copula to introduce or form interrogative or imperative sentences): Is that right? Be quiet! Don't be facetious.
–auxiliary verb
8. (used with the present participle of another verb to form the progressive tense): I am waiting.
9. (used with the present participle or infinitive of the principal verb to indicate future action): She is visiting there next week. He is to see me today.
10. (used with the past participle of another verb to form the passive voice): The date was fixed. It must be done.
11. (used in archaic or literary constructions with some intransitive verbs to form the perfect tense): He is come. Agamemnon to the wars is gone.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME been, OE bēon (bēo- (akin to OFris, OHG bim, G bin, OS bium, biom (I) am, OE, OHG, OS būan, ON būa reside, L fuī (I) have been, Gk phy- grow, become, OIr boí (he) was, Skt bhávati (he) becomes, is, Lith búti to be, OCS byti, Pers būd was)) + -n inf. suffix. See am, is, are 1 , was, were


See me.

-ard

a suffix forming nouns that denote persons who regularly engage in an activity, or who are characterized in a certain way, as indicated by the stem; now usually pejorative: coward; dullard; drunkard; wizard.
Also, -art.


Origin:
ME < OF, prob. extracted from Frankish compound personal names; cf. OHG Adalhart (F Alard), Bernhart (F Bernard), with 2d element -hart lit., strong, hardy, hard (c. OE -heard in names), often merely as intensifier of quality denoted in 1st element.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To art
art 1   (ärt)   
n.  
  1. Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature.

    1. The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium.

    2. The study of these activities.

    3. The product of these activities; human works of beauty considered as a group.

    4. A system of principles and methods employed in the performance of a set of activities: the art of building.

    5. A trade or craft that applies such a system of principles and methods: the art of the lexicographer.

    6. Skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of the baker; the blacksmith's art.

    7. Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties: "Self-criticism is an art not many are qualified to practice" (Joyce Carol Oates).

    8. arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks.

    9. Artful contrivance; cunning.

  2. High quality of conception or execution, as found in works of beauty; aesthetic value.

  3. A field or category of art, such as music, ballet, or literature.

  4. A nonscientific branch of learning; one of the liberal arts.

    1. A system of principles and methods employed in the performance of a set of activities: the art of building.

    2. A trade or craft that applies such a system of principles and methods: the art of the lexicographer.

    3. Skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of the baker; the blacksmith's art.

    4. Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties: "Self-criticism is an art not many are qualified to practice" (Joyce Carol Oates).

    5. arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks.

    6. Artful contrivance; cunning.

    1. Skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of the baker; the blacksmith's art.

    2. Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties: "Self-criticism is an art not many are qualified to practice" (Joyce Carol Oates).

    3. arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks.

    4. Artful contrivance; cunning.

    1. arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks.

    2. Artful contrivance; cunning.

  5. Printing Illustrative material.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ars, art-; see ar- in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These nouns denote skill in doing or performing that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of rhetoric; pottery that reveals an artist's craft; political expertise; a knack for teaching; mechanical know-how; a precise diving technique.
art 2   (ərt; ärt when stressed)   
v.   Archaic
A second person singular present indicative of be.

[Middle English, from Old English eart; see er-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

be 
O.E. beon, beom, bion "be, exist, come to be, become," from P.Gmc. *beo-, *beu-. Roger Lass ("Old English") describes the verb as "a collection of semantically related paradigm fragments," while Weekley calls it "an accidental conglomeration from the different Old English dial[ect]s." It is the most irregular verb in Mod.E. and the most common. Collective in all Gmc. languages, it has eight different forms in Mod.E.: BE (infinitive, subjunctive, imperative), AM (present 1st person singular), ARE (present 2nd person singular and all plural), IS (present 3rd person singular), WAS (past 1st and 3rd persons singular), WERE (past 2nd person singular, all plural; subjunctive), BEING (progressive & present participle; gerund), BEEN (perfect participle). The modern verb represents the merger of two once-distinct verbs, the "b-root" represented by be and the am/was verb, which was itself a conglomerate. The "b-root" is from PIE base *bheu-, *bhu- "grow, come into being, become," and in addition to Eng. it yielded Ger. present first and second person sing. (bin, bist, from O.H.G. bim "I am," bist "thou art"), L. perf. tenses of esse (fui "I was," etc.), O.C.S. byti "be," Gk. phu- "become," O.Ir. bi'u "I am," Lith. bu'ti "to be," Rus. byt' "to be," etc. It is also behind Skt. bhavah "becoming," bhavati "becomes, happens," bhumih "earth, world." The paradigm in O.E. was:

SING.PL.
1st pres.ic eom
ic beo
we sind(on)
we beoð
2nd pres.þu eart
þu bist
ge sind(on)
ge beoð
3rd pres.he is
he bið
hie sind(on)
hie beoð
1st pret.ic wæswe wæron
2nd pret.þu wærege waeron
3rd pret.heo wæshie wæron
1st pret. subj.ic wærewe wæren
2nd pret. subj.þu wærege wæren
3rd pret. subj.Egcferð wærehie wæren


The "b-root" had no past tense in O.E., but often served as future tense of am/was. In 13c. it took the place of the infinitive, participle and imperative forms of am/was. Later its plural forms (we beth, ye ben, they be) became standard in M.E. and it made inroads into the singular (I be, thou beest, he beth), but forms of are claimed this turf in the 1500s and replaced be in the plural. For the origin and evolution of the am/was branches of this tangle, see am and was. The phrase be-all and end all is from Shakespeare ("Macbeth" I.vii.5).

art  (n.)
c.1225, "skill as a result of learning or practice," from O.Fr. art, from L. artem, (nom. ars) "art, skill, craft," from PIE *ar-ti- (cf. Skt. rtih "manner, mode;" Gk. arti "just," artios "complete;" Armenian arnam "make," Ger. art "manner, mode"), from base *ar- "fit together, join" (see arm (1)). In M.E. usually with sense of "skill in scholarship and learning" (c.1305), especially in the seven sciences, or liberal arts (divided into the trivium -- grammar, logic, rhetoric -- and the quadrivium --arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy). This sense remains in Bachelor of Arts, etc. Meaning "human workmanship" (as opposed to nature) is from 1386. Sense of "cunning and trickery" first attested c.1600. Meaning "skill in creative arts" is first recorded 1620; esp. of painting, sculpture, etc., from 1668. Broader sense of the word remains in artless (1589). As an adj. meaning "produced with conscious artistry (as opposed to popular or folk) it is attested from 1890, possibly from infl. of Ger. kunstlied "art song" (cf. art film, 1960; art rock, c.1970). Fine arts, "those which appeal to the mind and the imagination" first recorded 1767. Art brut "art done by prisoners, lunatics, etc.," is 1955, from Fr., lit. "raw art." Artsy "pretentiously artistic" is from 1902. Expression art for art's sake (1836) translates Fr. l'art pour l'art. First record of art critic is from 1865. Arts and crafts "decorative design and handcraft" first attested in the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, founded in London, 1888.
"Supreme art is a traditional statement of certain heroic and religious truths, passed on from age to age, modified by individual genius, but never abandoned. The revolt of individualism came because the tradition had become degraded, or rather because a spurious copy had been accepted in its stead." [William Butler Yeats]

art  (v.)
second person present indicative of be; see be.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: art
Function: abbreviation
article
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: ART
Function: abbreviation
accredited record technician

Main Entry: BE
Function: abbreviation
1 barium enema
2 below elbow
3 board-eligible
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Be
The symbol for the element beryllium.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

ART language
A real-time functional language. It timestamps each data value when it was created.
["Applicative Real-Time Programming", M. Broy, PROC IFIP 1983, N-H].
(1996-01-15)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Idioms & Phrases

art

see fine art; state of the art.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
ART
  1. airborne radiation thermometer

  2. assisted reproductive technology

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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