Artifact vs. Relic

Artifact vs. Relic — Is There a Difference?
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Difference Between Artifact and Relic

Artifactnoun

An object made or shaped by human hand.

Relicnoun

That which remains; that which is left after loss or decay; a remaining portion.

Artifactnoun

(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.

Relicnoun

Something old and outdated, possibly kept for sentimental reasons.

Artifactnoun

Something viewed as a product of human conception or agency rather than an inherent element.

Relicnoun

(religion) A part of the body of a saint, or an ancient religious object, kept for veneration.

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Artifactnoun

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.

Relicverb

To cause (an object) to appear old or worn, to distress.

Artifactnoun

(biology) A structure or appearance in protoplasm due to death, method of preparation of specimens, or the use of reagents, and not present during life.

Relicnoun

an antiquity that has survived from the distant past

Artifactnoun

An object made or shaped by some agent or intelligence, not necessarily of direct human origin.

Relicnoun

something of sentimental value

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Artifactnoun

(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.

Artifactnoun

a man-made object taken as a whole