artificial--prophetes.ai

artificial, a. (and n.)
  (ɑːtɪˈfɪʃəl)
  Also 5 artyficiall, -fyciall, -fycyall, artificialle, -fyciall, -ficyall, 5–7 artificiall.
  [a. F. artificiel (14th c. in Littré), ad. L. artificiāl-is, f. artificium: see artifice and -al¹.]
  A. adj. I. Opposed to natural.
  1. Made by or resulting from art or artifice; contrived, compassed, or brought about by constructive skill, and not spontaneously; not natural. a. Artificial in result, as well as in process.

c 1382 Wyclif Matt. Add. Prol., Not as bi naturel order, bot bi artificial ordre. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. xxviii, Bawme naturall That ran through pipes artyfyciall. 1563 T. Hill Arte Garden. (1593) 154 In my litle treatise of Natural and artificial conclusions. 1690 Locke Hum. Und., An artificial thing being a production of Man, which the Artificer designed. 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty 3 The elegant and beautiful in artificial, as well as natural forms. 1756 Burke Vind. Nat. Soc. Wks. 1842 I. 19 A state of artificial society. 1825 M{supc}Culloch Pol. Econ. ii. §5. 193 To give an artificial stimulus to population. 1837 Howitt Rur. Life (1862) i. vii. 73 A garden..is an artificial thing..though formed from the materials of nature.

b. Of natural products or results artificially produced, e.g. artificial light. (In contrast to the next, these are real, though artificial.)

1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 184, I can..wet my Cheekes with artificiall Teares. 1648 C. Walker Relat. & Obs. i. 45 Many suspected his death was artificiall. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1662) 191 Darknesse..made artificial Lights to appear with the more Solemnity. 1828 F. Watkins Electro-Magnetism 10 Sir H. Davy..was enabled to produce the most intense artificial light ever seen. 1834 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) III. 75 Those very men have seen their wives and children perish with artificial hunger. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. §24. 353 Harrison's..machine for the production of artificial ice. 1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight vi. 71 Use the stronger glasses in artificial light only, and the old pair in daytime.

c. spec. (a) In Physics, applied to the disintegration of an element or particle (under bombardment, etc.), to radioactivity that is induced (as opposed to that which occurs naturally), to isotopes produced in this way, and to the radioactivity of such isotopes; (b) popularly applied to objects, real or imaginary, put into orbit by man, e.g. artificial moon, artificial planet, artificial satellite.

1920 Rutherford in Proc. R. Soc. A. XCVII. 398 The isotope of mass 3 arises in the artificial disintegration of lighter atoms like oxygen and nitrogen. 1926 R. W. Lawson tr. Hevesy & Paneth's Man. Radioactivity xxvii. 228 Recent years have seen the initiation of the artificial disintegration of the elements, an achievement first successful in the case of nitrogen, and carried out by Rutherford in 1919. 1934 Joliot & Curie in Nature 10 Feb. 201 (heading) Artificial production of a new kind of radio-element. Ibid. 202/1 These experiments give the first chemical proof of artificial transmutation. 1938 R. W. Lawson tr Hevesy & Paneth's Man. Radioactivity (ed. 2) vii. 73 Neutrons disrupt the silicon nucleus and call forth an artificial radioactivity. Ibid. x. 123 It is possible to produce a number of artificial radio-elements in a variety of ways.

1880 P. Greg Across Zodiac I. iii. 51 The weeks I spent in the solitude of this artificial planet..[in] a voyage through space. 1946 H. Harper Dawn Space Age 68 Pirquet has worked out plans for an artificial island, or rather an ‘artificial moon’,..stationed out in space..as a permanent fuelling-point for space-craft setting out on interplanetary voyages. 1963 Listener 14 Feb. 287/1 Mariner has now entered a permanent orbit round the Sun, and has joined the increasing company of dwarf ‘artificial planets’.

2. Made by art in imitation of, or as substitute for, what is natural or real. (These are not real.)

1577 Harrison England iii. ix. 80 If the colour hold..the stone is thought to be naturall and good: but if it alter..then it is not sound, but rather an artificiall [peece of] practise. 1611 Rowland Four Knaves 22 An artificiall flie of silk. 1655 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. xlvi, How to make an artificial Bird to fly. 1684 Lond. Gaz. mdcccclxx/4 Art of Drawing and Cleansing natural and setting in Artificial Teeth. 1736 Butler Anal. i. i. 31 It can walk by the help of an artificial leg. 1753 Smollett Ct. Fathom (1784) 122/2 A knot of artificial flowers. 1867 F. Francis Angling vi. (1880) 190 A list of artificial flies.

3. a. Merely made up; factitious; hence, feigned, fictitious. (Cf. 1593 in 1 b.)

c 1650 Cowley To his Majesty Wks. 1710 II. 577 The Artificial Joy's drown'd by the Natural. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. i. 730 Washes As artificial as their faces. 1719 Young Revenge ii. i, To elaborate An artificial happiness from pains. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 21 ¶8 Endeavour to kindle in myself an artificial impatience. 1865 Lecky Rational. (1878) I. 319 Religion..became an artificial thing of relics and ceremonies.

b. spec. in Contract Bridge (see quots.).

1930 E. Culbertson Contract Bridge Blue Bk. xx. 267 ‘Strength showing’ optional or artificial bids..are a polite warning to the enemy not to fall into the trap. 1950 J. Culbertson Contract Bridge for Beginners (rev. ed.) xv. 162 ‘Artificial’ bidding. When the partner bids, for example, five hearts to show that he has two aces, his bid has nothing whatsoever to do with the hearts in his hand. 1961 Listener 28 Sept. 485/2 South's One Diamond was artificial.

4. Not natural in manners, affected.

1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man (1631) 327 Artificiall apes, counterfeiting a formall kinde of strangers civilitie. 1679 Stillingfl. Serm. Whitehall 7 Mar. 15 Hence the most artificial men have found it necessary to put on a guise of simplicity and plainness. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. vi. (1865) 271 What if it is the nature of some men to be highly artificial? 1849 Robertson Serm. Ser. i. ii. (1866) 20 Some will have become frivolous and artificial.

5. In various phrases, opposed to natural. artificial aid, an aid (e.g. crampons, pitons) used in climbing; hence artificial climbing, climbing with the assistance of such aids; † artificial day (obs.), the period during which the sun is above the horizon; artificial fertilizer, artificial manure, a chemical fertilizer or manure; artificial globe, a globe having a map of the world delineated on its surface, and revolving on an axis within rings representing the horizon and meridian; artificial grasses, such as do not grow spontaneously in the locality, but are sown; artificial horizon, a level reflecting surface, such as that of a fluid at rest, or a mirror laid horizontally on the earth's surface, used in taking altitudes; also, a gyroscopic instrument used in an aircraft to indicate the attitude of the aircraft in relation to the horizon; artificial insemination, injection of semen into the uterus (of an animal) by other than the natural means (abbrev. A.I.); so A.I.D., A.I.H., artificial insemination (of a woman) with a donor's, the husband's, semen (see also donor d); artificial intelligence, (the study of) the capacity of machines to simulate intelligent human behaviour; abbrev. AI s.v. A III; artificial kidney, an apparatus that performs the functions of a human kidney in place of a diseased or injured organ; artificial language, an invented language, esp. one designed for international use; artificial lines, lines on a sector representing the logarithmic sines and tangents; artificial lung, an apparatus which supplements the supply of oxygen available to the lungs or induces respiration; cf. iron lung; artificial numbers, logarithms; artificial respiration, a manual or mechanical procedure designed to restore the natural function of breathing when this has been suspended; artificial rubber, a manufactured plastic substance resembling rubber; artificial silk, see silk; artificial sunlight, a name given to light radiated from an ultra-violet ray lamp; see also sun-ray; artificial system or artificial classification (in Nat. Hist.), a system which does not seek to embrace all natural affinities, but chiefly to serve as a key to the identification of species; artificial year (= civil year), the period from one new year's day to another (now 365 or 366 even days), as distinguished from the actual time taken by the earth in its annual revolution.

1934 E. R. Blanchet in S. Spencer Mountaineering v. 107 Artificial Aids.—On rocks these are met with more and more frequently. The rope is no longer used merely for safety but also as a means of climbing and may be looked upon as an artificial aid.

1956 R. C. Evans On Climbing iii. 53 ‘Artificial’ climbing, on sections otherwise unclimbable, is the province of the advanced climber.

c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's Prol. 2 The brighte sonne The arke of his artificial day hath i-ronne The fourthe part. c 1391 ― Astrol. ii. §7 To knowe the arch of the day, that some folk kallen the day artificial. 1432–50 tr. Higden (1865) I. 377 The clergy..ȝiffenge attendaunce to preier and to abstinence by the day artificialle, spendenge the nyȝhtes in surfettes and in ryette. 1631 R. Byfield Doctr. Sabb. 142 To take the fourth commandement to bee understood of an artificiall day and not of a naturall.

1907 Roy. Soc. S. Australia Trans. Index 1877–1900 37 Artificial fertilizers. 1936 Economist 11 Jan. 71/2 The increase in imports is mainly due to larger imports of..artificial fertilisers. 1943 J. S. Huxley TVA 116 The artificial fertilizer industry.

1635 N. Carpenter Geog. Delin. i. vii. 161 The artificiall Globe is an expression or imitation of the Spheare of the Earth.

1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. ii. 17 In the absence of artificial grasses, natural meadow was exceedingly valuable.

1801 C. Gould Brit. Patent 2559 Artificial horizon, to be attached to and used with the quadrant or sextant for taking altitudes on land or water. 1833 Sir J. Herschel Astron. ii. 91 The reflecting surface of a fluid so used for the determination of the altitudes of objects is called an artificial horizon. 1912 Engineering 1 Mar. 285/3 The artificial horizon..brought out..as an attachment to sextants especially suitable for observations from balloons. 1920 Flight XII. 1258/1 In common with all artificial horizons when used in aircraft, however, the level is subject to error due to the acceleration of the machine acting on the bubble.

1897 Proc. R. Soc. LXI. 52 (heading) The Artificial Insemination of Mammals. 1923 in M. Box Trial M. Stopes (1967) 105, I am referring to that paragraph about artificial insemination of women with seed taken from other men. 1936 Discovery Oct. 328/2 We might..by ‘artificial insemination’ produce a race containing as many ‘Lenins or Darwins’ as we pleased. 1945 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 13 Jan. 40/1 We ourselves have used, and in certain respects developed, the technique of artificial insemination (A.I.) during the past five years. Ibid. 40/2 (heading) Male sterility and Other Indications for Artificial Insemination with Donated Semen (A.I.D.). Ibid. 43/1 In a recent series of 30 successive cases A.I.H. was carried out because of low invasive power of the semen. 1947 Lancet 19 Apr. 527/2 The signed statement of consent, usually obtained by the doctor from both the husband and wife before insemination with donor's semen (A.I.D.) is performed, is likely to be worthless legally. 1947 G. L. Russell in Artificial Human Insemination vii. 56 A.I.D. involves adultery, whatever the motives, circumstances, or consequences. 1949 ‘G. Orwell’ Nineteen Eighty-Four i. 68 All children were to be begotten by artificial insemination (artsem, it was called in Newspeak). 1959 Observer 25 Jan. 11/3 Intended originally for the small farmer, A.I. has proved of increasing interest also to the larger farmer and the pedigree breeder.

1956 M. L. Minsky Heuristic Aspects Artificial Intelligence Probl. (M.I.T. Lincoln Lab. Group Rep. 34–55) iv. 4 In the random decisions desired in the domain of artificial intelligence, I am confident that the ‘precision’ required of pseudo-random sequences will be very much less than for mathematical or numerical purposes. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xi. 173 Research on pattern recognition is carried out in various areas, for instance, in connection with ‘learning machines’ and ‘artificial intelligence’. 1973 Sci. News 4 Aug. 76/1 Mathematicians and engineers..have combined a computer, a television camera and a mechanical arm into a system with enough artificial intelligence to recognize blocks of various sizes, colors and shapes. 1980 Times 18 Feb. (Computer Suppl.) p. viii/8 Now revived by government and private capital, British interest in robotics and artificial intelligence is nevertheless still feeding off the impetus from overseas work. 1985 Personal Computer World Feb. 164/1 The..almost clichéd applications being knowledge-based systems and artificial intelligence programs.

1913 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 16 Aug. 387/1 Salicylic acid injected into a vein was excreted in some cases more rapidly by this artificial kidney than by the normal excretory channels. 1914 Jrnl. Pharmacol. & Exper. Therapeutics Jan. 276 The apparatus constitutes what has been called an artificial kidney in the sense that it allows the escape of the diffusible constituents of the blood. 1961 Lancet 2 Sept. 553/2 Representatives of several artificial-kidney units..expressed the opinion that clotting in the artificial kidney was commoner when machines of large surface-area were used.

1864 Max Müller Lect. Sci. Language 2 ser. ii. 61 An artificial language might be much more perfect, more regular, more easy to learn, than any of the spoken tongues of man. 1865 F. W. Farrar Chapters on Lang. iii. 37 All attempts to frame an artificial language have been a failure. 1919 G. Willis Philos. of Speech iv. 63 An artificial language, such as Esperanto, can never acquire any literary value, although it may possibly provide a useful vehicle of scientific or philosophic thought.

1870 Century Mag. Nov. 29/2 This result is obtained by means of an artificial lung... The diver carries this apparatus on his back. 1947 Sci. Digest Sept. 74 (caption) Oxygenated blood; external artificial lung.

1843 Artificial manure [see mineral a. 4]. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 568/1 The artificial manures which he [sc. Justus Liebig] introduced contained the essential mineral substances. 1922 A. Huxley Mortal Coils 31 His land was farmed in the best modern way—silos and artificial manures and continuous cropping and all that.

1852 New Orleans Med. & Surg. Jrnl. IX. 209 One thing that saved the child's life—the Artificial Respiration. 1854 W. Marcet in Med. Times & Gaz. 22 Apr. 401 An account of a new instrument for performing artificial respiration. 1922 Man. Seamanship (H.M.S.O.) I. 371 To effect artificial respiration put yourself astride or on one side of the patient's body, in a kneeling position, facing his head.

1911 C. Christy African Rubber Ind. xvii. 232 There are hundreds of materials called rubber substitutes..but these are not artificial rubbers. 1930 Engineering 18 Apr. 525/2 Artificial rubber gave no spot diagram. 1942 Electronic Engin. Mar. 668/2 Polyethylene and polyisobutylene (artificial rubber) are almost as good.

1927 Lancet 29 Oct. 947/2 London clinic for artificial sunlight treatment. 1928 Daily Express 27 June 3/6 The Committee on Artificial Sunlight in Industrial Hygiene.

1704 Hearne Ductor Hist. (1714) I. 3 The Artificial or Civil Year now used, was invented by the Emperor Julius Cæsar.

† II. Displaying special art or skill. (All Obs.)
† 6. Displaying much skill; a. of things: Skilfully made or contrived. Obs.

1490 Caxton Eneydos ii. 14 To destroye soo artyfycyall a werke. 1494 Fabyan vi. clvi. 145 An horologe or a clocke..of a wonder artyficiall makyng. 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 55 Things made of feathers verie curious, straunge, and artificiall. 1655 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. lxxxviii, A Brazen or Stone-head..so artificial and natural, that..it will presently open its mouth, and resolve the question. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. v. 875 A most artificial Contrivance of Nature..to hinder the regurgitation of the Fæces. 1738 J. Keill Anim. Econ. Pref. 10 The artificial and elegant structure of the eye.

† b. of persons: Skilled in constructive art, skilful. Obs.

1541 Barnes Wks. (1573) 342/2 A conning and an artificyall grauer. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 553 They are very artificiall in making of images. 1682 Norris Hierocles 2 God who was the most artificial framer of the Universe.

† 7. Displaying education or training; scholarly.

1618 Latham 2nd Bk. Falconry (1633) 38 His Hawke hath hardly beene taught one good qualitie or artificiall condition. a 1619 Donne Biathan. (1644) 23 Scholastique and artificiall men use this way of instructing. 1628 Coke On Litt. 62 a, Not..understood of euerie unlearned mans reason, but of artificiall and legal reason.

† 8. Displaying technical skill; workmanlike.

1656 H. Phillips Purch. Patt. (1676) 23 The best and most artificial way to make these Tables, is to find certain numbers in continual proportion decreasing.

† 9. Displaying artifice; artful, cunning, deceitful. (Said of men and their actions.) Obs.

1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark vi. (R.) [They] would for the..setting forthe of themselfes make vnto the people an artificial oracion or sermon. 1649 Milton Eikon. Wks. 1738 I. 376 This is the artificialest piece of finesse to perswade Men to be Slaves, that the wit of Court could have invented. 1656 W. Montagu Accompl. Wom. 105 Excessive praises which artificiall men offer. 1702 Eng. Theophr. 91 The great ones have a Trick as artificial to excuse themselves.

† III. Of or pertaining to art. (All Obs.)
† 10. According to the rules of art.

1528 Paynell Salerne Reg. P b, It is not artificial to eate them [peas] in the huskes (for the nature of that within and the huskes) disagree. 1609 Douland Ornithop. Microl. 39 Rests..are of equall value with the Notes, and are measured with artificiall Silence. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Artificial music, that which is according to the rules of art; or executed by instruments invented by art.

† 11. Pertaining to practical art; technical. Obs.

1660 Stanley Hist. Philos., Speech is of five kinds. Artificial, used by Tradesmen in their several Professions. 1739 Chesterfield Lett. 49 I. 150 Technical..from the Greek word τέχνη, which signifies Art, and τεχνικός, which signifies Artificial. 1809 Christian in Blackstone's Comm. II. 381 He knew their artificial import and signification.

B. as n. [the adj. used absol. in pl.] a. Artificial things; products of art. spec. artificial manure.

1611 J. Guillim Heraldry iv. xiii. 222 Such Artificials as are in vse amongst men of Militarie Profession. 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 69 Animalls, vegetables, inanimates, mineralls, artificialls, etc. 1743 Lond. & Countr. Brewer ii. i. (ed. 2) 87 Malt, like many other Artificials, is most genuine, when it is nearest to its Original Nature. 1860 in Thirsk & Imray Suff. Farming 19th Cent. (1958) 57 Artificial consumed. 1927 W. Deeping Doomsday xix. §2 Plenty of stock..saved you from having to spend too much on artificials.

b. An artificial flower.

1840 H. Cockton Valentine Vox xxvi. 196 A bouquet of variegated artificials on one side. 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton I. i. 8 Esther, I see what you'll end at with your artificials, and your fly-away veils.

c. An artificial bait.

1949 A. Wanless Fly Fisherman's Alphabet 53 There are not so many flies which trout feed on and the artificials are definite imitations of them. 1959 Times 7 Feb. 9/3 There have been many instances of perch and chub being caught on..spun artificials.