English Dictionary

Definition of “arts”

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arts (ɑːtsPronunciation for arts) 

Definitions

plural noun

    1. See the arts
    2. ((as modifier)  ⇒ an arts degree 
  2. See fine art
  3. cunning or crafty actions or plots; schemes

1art1 (ɑːtPronunciation for art1) 

Definitions

noun

    1. the creation of works of beauty or other special significance
    2. ((as modifier)  ⇒ an art movement 
  2. the exercise of human skill (as distinguished from the exercise of human skill (as distinguished from nature)
  3. imaginative skill as applied to representations of the natural world or figments of the imagination
    1. the products of man's creative activities; works of art collectively, esp of the visual arts, sometimes also music, drama, dance, and literature
    2. ((as modifier)  ⇒ an art gallery See also arts , fine art
  5. excellence or aesthetic merit of conception or execution as exemplified by such works
  6. any branch of the visual arts, esp painting
  7. (modifier) intended to be artistic or decorative  ⇒ art needlework 
    1. any field using the techniques of art to display artistic qualities  ⇒ advertising art 
    2. ((as modifier)  ⇒ an art film 
  9. journalism photographs or other illustrations in a newspaper, etc
  10. method, facility, or knack  ⇒ the art of threading a needle the art of writing letters 
  11. the system of rules or principles governing a particular human activity  ⇒ the art of government 
  12. artfulness; cunning
  13. See get something down to a fine art

See also

arts

Word Origin

C13: from Old French, from Latin ars craftsmanship

Quotations

  • "Art is a jealous mistress" Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • "All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music" Walter Pater
  • "Art is a lie that makes us realise the truth" Pablo Picasso
  • "In art the best is good enough" Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  • "Life is short, the art long" Hippocrates
  • "Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible" Paul Klee
  • "Art is a revolt against fate" André Malraux
  • "Art is...pattern informed by sensibility" Herbert Read
  • "We must have ... art for art's sake ... the beautiful cannot be the way to what is useful, or to what is good, or to what is holy; it leads only to itself" Victor Cousin
  • "It's clever, but is it Art?" Rudyard Kipling
  • "Art is meant to disturb. Science reassures" Georges Braque
  • "a product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered" Al Capp (of abstract art)
  • "Formerly, painting and sculpture were combined in the same work; the ancients painted their statues. The only present alliance between the two arts is that the modern painter chisels his patrons" Ambrose Bierce
  • "True art selects and paraphrases, but seldom gives a verbatim translation" Thomas Bailey Aldrich
  • "Art enlarges experience by admitting us to the inner life of others" Walter Lippmann

Usage examples

  • It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill.
    J.R.R. Tolkien, THE LORD OF THE RINGS (2004)
  • He was never attracted to the idea of classical art and timelessness but drawn towards Rococo interiors and decorative arts.
    Country Life (2004)
  • At a press conference in New York, Mr Messier said the French exception culturelle (state subsidies for the arts ) was dead.
    Irish Times (2002)
  • In deepest South Lanarkshire that imperative is being embraced in the ruthless enthusing of youngsters in the traditional arts.
    Glasgow Herald (2001)
  • Ideally you should set aside a regular half-an-hour every day to study, read or try out the various old arts.
    Marian Green, A WITCH ALONE (2002)

Commonness

All English words that begin with 'A'

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