meaning of artifice
1.  A handicraft; a trade; art of making. 
2.  Workmanship; a skillfully contrived work. 
3.  Artful or skillful contrivance. 
4.  Crafty device; an artful, ingenious, or elaborate trick.  [Now the usual meaning. ]
5.  a deceptive maneuver especially to avoid capture
						 
