artifice \Ar"ti*fice\, n. [L. artificium, fr. artifex artificer; ars, artis, art + facere to make: cf. F. artifice.] 1. A handicraft; a trade; art of making. [Obs.] 2. Workmanship; a skillfully contrived work. The material universe.. in the artifice of God, the artifice of the best Mechanist. --Cudworth. 3. Artful or skillful contrivance. His [Congreve's] plots were constructed without much artifice. --Craik. 4. Crafty device; an artful, ingenious, or elaborate trick.