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Artifact vs Appendix - What's the difference?

artifact | appendix |

As nouns the difference between artifact and appendix

is that artifact is an object made or shaped by human hand while appendix is something attached to something else; an attachment or accompaniment.

artifact

English

Alternative forms

* artefact

Noun

(en noun)
  • An object made or shaped by human hand.
  • (archaeology) An object, such as a tool, weapon or ornament, of archaeological or historical interest, especially such an object found at an archaeological excavation.
  • The dig produced many Roman artifacts .
  • 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).
  • A structure or finding in an experiment or investigation that is not a true feature of the object under observation, but is a result of external action, the test arrangement, or an experimental error.
  • The spot on his lung turned out to be an artifact of the X-ray process.
  • An object made or shaped by some agent or intelligence, not necessarily of direct human origin.
  • (computing) A perceptible distortion that appears in a digital image, audio or video file as a result of applying a lossy compression algorithm.
  • This JPEG image has been so highly compressed that it has too many unsightly compression artifacts , making it unsuitable for the cover of our magazine.

    References

    * * "artefact" is the preferred spelling in Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary'', with ''artifact listed as a variant. * "artifact" is preferred by the Oxford English Dictionary and most American dictionaries.

    appendix

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • Something attached to something else; an attachment or accompaniment.
  • *, vol.I, New York 2001, p.244:
  • idleness is an appendix to nobility; they count it a disgrace to work, and spend all their days in sports, recreations, and pastimes […].
  • Specifically, a text added to the end of a book or an article, containing information that is important to but is not the main idea of the main text.
  • (anatomy) The vermiform appendix, an inner organ without known use that can become inflamed.
  • Usage notes

    The correct plural of depends on the circumstances. When referring to the text at the end of a book or article, the plural is usually stated as appendices, although often as appendixes. Either is correct in standard usage. In the sense of the organ, appendixes is the only plural. Compare vacuum, which can pluralize to vacua or vacuums depending on the meaning.

    Derived terms

    * appendical * appendicitis * appendectomy