The OED (OUP 1971) lists "artifact" as the first spelling and "artefact" as
the variant. The OED is wholly a British resource.
Joel W.
At 12:21 AM 6/16/2005 +0200, you wrote:
>I think that we can be reasonably certain that the original correct spelling
>is 'artefact', as it comes directly from the Latin 'arte' and 'fact'.
>The American spelling was presumably based on the pronunciation of
>'artefact' sounding like 'artifact'. At least half the American spelling
>comes from correct Latin though....
>
>Roger Key (proudly Canadian)
>
> >From: Chris Barker <ftog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >Reply-To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
> >To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
> >Subject: [OM] Re: various musings...
> >Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 17:28:58 +0100
> >
> >
> >Ahem, ladies and gentlemen, the spelling should be "artefacts".
> >
> >I had occasion to look it up because a colleague had made up a
> >presentation in which, in large type, the error was obvious.
> >
> >Chris
> >~~ >-)-
> >C M I Barker
> >Cambridgeshire, Great Britain.
> >+44 (0)7092 251126
> >www.threeshoes.co.uk
> >homepage.mac.com/zuiko
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > absence of artifacts.
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