Artefact is the British spelling of the noun meaning, primarily, an object shaped by human workmanship, especially one of historical or archaeological interest. Artifact is the American spelling. Both spellings are etymologically justifiable, and both are hundreds of years old in English. We’ve seen claims that artifact came about in the late 19th century,1 but the Oxford English Dictionary alone lists one example from the 17th century and one from the early 19th.2 It may be true that artefact was more common than artifact until a century ago, but this is difficult to verify.
Canadian writers tend to use the American spelling. Artefact is more common everywhere outside North America.
Examples
These examples are from American and Canadian publications:
The sudden suicide of an artifact-dealer with ties to the cult draws the attention of an ambitious female police detective-inspector … [Wall Street Journal]
Buried artifacts, preserved in the ashes, are coming to light … [Montreal Gazette]
One artifact of Obama’s “leading from behind” foreign policy is a sense that many of our allies had it coming … [National Review Online]
And these are from outside North America:
Some bandits had made off with a golden artefact owned by the local storekeeper and with the aid of a new found ally … [Guardian]
€310k - The price of the most expensive oriental artefact ever sold at auction in Ireland. [Irish Times]
The best-known artefact is the teenage monarch’s gold funerary mask, which stares out from a case on the first floor of the museum. [The Age (Australia)]
References
1. “Artifact” at Etymology Online ^
2. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/11133 ^
