Artes mechanicae

Also called "servile" and "vulgar",[1] from antiquity they had been deemed "unbecoming" for a free man, as they minister to basic needs.

[3] Hugh's treatment somewhat elevates the mechanical arts as ordained to the improvement of humanity, a promotion which was to represent a growing trend among late medievals.

[4][5] The classification of the artes mechanicae as applied geometry was introduced to Western Europe by Dominicus Gundissalinus (12th century) under the influence of his readings in Arabic scholarship.

[citation needed] In the 19th century, "mechanic arts" referred to some of the fields that are now known as engineering.

In the United States, the most famous usage of the term "mechanic arts" (and the one in which it is most commonly encountered today) is in the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act.