1. An object produced or shaped by human craft, especially a tool, weapon, or ornament of archaeological or historical interest.
2. Something viewed as a product of human conception or agency rather than an inherent element: "The very act of looking at a naked model was an artifact of male supremacy" (Philip Weiss).
3. A structure or feature not normally present but visible as a result of an external agent or action, such as one seen in a microscopic specimen after fixation, or in an image produced by radiology or electrocardiography.
4. An inaccurate observation, effect, or result, especially one resulting from the technology used in scientific investigation or from experimental error: The apparent pattern in the data was an artifact of the collection method.

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[Latin arte, ablative of ars, art; see art¹ + factum, something made (from neuter past participle of facere, to make. See dh- in Indo-European Roots).]
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Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

artifact
\Ar"ti*fact\, n. [L. ars, artis, art + facere, factum, to make.]
1. (Arch[ae]ol.) A product of human workmanship; -- applied esp. to the simpler products of aboriginal art as distinguished from natural objects.
2. (Biol.) A structure or appearance in protoplasm due to death or the use of reagents and not present during life.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

artifact
n : a man-made object [syn: artefact] [ant: natural object]

Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University