Artifact is an alteration of artefact, from Italian artefatto, from Latin arte (“by skill”) (ablative of ars (“art”)) + factum (“thing made”) (from facio (“to make, do”)). The historical chain records Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-, Proto-Indo-European *h₂értis, Proto-Italic *artis, Latin ars, Latin arte, Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-, Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁k-yé-ti, Proto-Italic *θakjō, Proto-Italic *fakjō, Latin faciō, Latin factum, Vulgar, Latin *artefactum, Italian artefatto, and English artifact. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include *h₂er- (Proto-Indo-European), artefatto (Italian), arte (Latin), and *dʰeh₁- (Proto-Indo-European). Current senses include an object made by people, especially an old or historically interesting one and a flaw or distortion in an image, recording, or experiment caused by the process rather than the real subject. The wider family includes derived forms such as artifacted, artifacting, artifactual, cryoartifact, and ecofact.