art

art¹ W1S1 [a:t US a:rt] n

[Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: Latin ars]

1.) [U]

the use of painting, drawing, ↑sculpture etc to represent things or express ideas

▪ an example of Indian art

contemporary/modern art

▪ the Museum of Modern Art

→↑art form, ↑fine art, ↑performance art

2.) [plural, U]

objects that are produced by art, such as paintings, drawings etc

▪ an art exhibition

▪ an art critic

▪ an arts and crafts fair

▪ The exhibition features 175 works of art.

3.) [U]

the skill of drawing or painting

▪ He's very good at art.

▪ an art teacher

4.) the arts [plural]

art, music, theatre, film, literature etc all considered together

▪ Government funding for the arts has been reduced.

5.) arts also the arts [plural]

subjects you can study that are not scientific, for example history, languages etc

→↑humanities

6.) [U and C]

the ability or skill involved in doing or making something

▪ Television is ruining the art of conversation.

▪ Writing advertisements is quite an art (=it is difficult to do) .

have/get sth down to a fine art

(=do something very well)

▪ I've got the early morning routine down to a fine art.

art ²

art² v old-fashioned or biblical

[: Old English; Origin: eart]

thou art

a phrase meaning 'you are'