\Ar"ti*san\ (?; 277), n. [F. artisan, fr. L. artitus
skilled in arts, fr. ars, artis, art: cf. It. artigiano. See
{Art}, n.]
1. One who professes and practices some liberal art; an
   artist. [Obs.]
2. One trained to manual dexterity in some mechanic art or
   trade; and handicraftsman; a mechanic.
         This is willingly submitted to by the artisan, who
         can . . . compensate his additional toil and
         fatigue.                              --Hume.
Syn: Artificer; artist.
Usage: {Artisan}, {Artist}, {Artificer}. An artist is one who
       is skilled in some one of the fine arts; an artisan is
       one who exercises any mechanical employment. A
       portrait painter is an artist; a sign painter is an
       artisan, although he may have the taste and skill of
       an artist. The occupation of the former requires a
       fine taste and delicate manipulation; that of the
       latter demands only an ordinary degree of contrivance
       and imitative power. An artificer is one who requires
       power of contrivance and adaptation in the exercise of
       his profession. The word suggest neither the idea of
       mechanical conformity to rule which attaches to the
       term artisan, nor the ideas of refinement and of
       peculiar skill which belong to the term artist.