artificial (adj.)

late 14c., "not natural or spontaneous," from Old French artificial, from Latin artificialis "of or belonging to art," from artificium "a work of art; skill; theory, system," from artifex (genitive artificis) "craftsman, artist, master of an art" (music, acting, sculpting, etc.), from stem of ars "art" (see art (n.)) + -fex "maker," from facere "to do, make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").

Earliest use in English is in the phrase artificial day "part of the day from sunrise to sunset" (as opposed to the natural day of 24 hours). Meaning "made by man, contrived by human skill and labor" is from early 15c. The word was applied from 16c. to anything made in imitation of, or as a substitute for, what is natural, whether real (light, tears) or not (teeth, flowers). Meaning "fictitious, assumed, not genuine" is from 1640s; that of "full of affectation, insincere" is from 1590s. Artificial insemination dates from 1894. Artificial intelligence "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines" was coined in 1956.