6.Re: MSN Encarta Dictionary

ART

noun (plural arts)
Definition:

1. creation of beautiful things: the creation of beautiful or thought-provoking works, e.g. in painting, music, or writing

2. beautiful objects: beautiful or thought-provoking works produced through creative activity

3. branch of art: a branch or category of art, especially one of the visual arts

4. artistic skill: the skill and technique involved in producing visual representations

5. study of art: the study of a branch of the visual arts

6. creation by humans: creation by human endeavor rather than by nature

7. techniques or craft: the set of techniques used by somebody in a particular field, or the use of those techniques
the art of the typographer

8. ability: the skill or ability to do something well
the art of conversation

9. cunning: the ability to achieve things by deceitful or cunning methods ( literary )



plural noun arts
Definition:

1. forms of creative beauty: activities enjoyed for the beauty they create or the way they present ideas, e.g. painting, music, and literature

2. nonscientific subjects: nonscientific and nontechnical subjects at school or college

[13th century. Via French< Latin art- "skill"]

have something down to a fine art to be able to do something very skillfully


Word History

The Latin stem art- "skill," from which art is derived, is also the source of English artificial, artisan, and inert.