Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Artisan \Ar"ti*san\ (?; 277), n. [F. artisan, fr. L. artitus
   skilled in arts, fr. ars, artis, art: cf. It. artigiano. See
   {Art}, n.]
   1. One who professes and practices some liberal art; an
      artist. [Obs.]

   2. One trained to manual dexterity in some mechanic art or
      trade; and handicraftsman; a mechanic.

            This is willingly submitted to by the artisan, who
            can . . . compensate his additional toil and
            fatigue.                              --Hume.

   Syn: Artificer; artist.

   Usage: {Artisan}, {Artist}, {Artificer}. An artist is one who
          is skilled in some one of the fine arts; an artisan is
          one who exercises any mechanical employment. A
          portrait painter is an artist; a sign painter is an
          artisan, although he may have the taste and skill of
          an artist. The occupation of the former requires a
          fine taste and delicate manipulation; that of the
          latter demands only an ordinary degree of contrivance
          and imitative power. An artificer is one who requires
          power of contrivance and adaptation in the exercise of
          his profession. The word suggest neither the idea of
          mechanical conformity to rule which attaches to the
          term artisan, nor the ideas of refinement and of
          peculiar skill which belong to the term artist.

Source : WordNet®

artisan
     n : a skilled worker who practices some trade or handicraft
         [syn: {craftsman}, {journeyman}, {artificer}]