ar·te·fact (är′tə-făkt′)
n.
Variant of artifact.


The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
artefact (ˈɑːtɪˌfækt) or artifact
n
1. something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest
2. anything man-made, such as a spurious experimental result
3. (Biology) cytology a structure seen in tissue after death, fixation, staining, etc, that is not normally present in the living tissue
[C19: from Latin phrase arte factum, from ars skill + facere to make]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
ar•ti•fact or ar•te•fact (ˈɑr təˌfækt)

n.
1. any object made by human beings, esp. with a view to subsequent use.
2. a handmade object, as a tool, or the remains of one, as a shard of pottery, belonging to an earlier time or cultural stage, esp. such an object found at an archaeological excavation.
3. a substance or structure not naturally present in the matter being observed but formed by artificial means, as during preparation of a microscope slide.
4. a spurious observation or result arising from preparatory procedures.
5. any feature that is not naturally present but is a product of an extrinsic agent.
[1815–25; variant of artefact < Latin phrase arte factum (something) made with skill. See art1, fact]
ar`ti•fac•ti′tious (-fækˈtɪʃ əs) adj.
ar`ti•fac′tu•al (-ˈfæk tʃu əl) adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.