> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Author:: [[Diana Silva]] > Reference:: Vieira-da-Silva, Diana, et al. "Polysemic Lexicon: Exploring the Different Meanings of the Term ‘Craft’." _International Conference on Design and Digital Communication_. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024. > Date:: 2024 > Tags:: #warp #Portugal > WeftLinks:: [[World Craft Dictionary]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > A study of the meaning of craft using literature review and interviews. ### Highlights This paper suggests a semantic revision for craft-related terms to promote understanding among students, professionals, and researchers. The article addresses the issue of the polysemic nature of the terminologies surrounding crafts, such as skill, workmanship, craftsmanship and artisanal, as well as the different meanings of the word ‘craft’. The terminological ambiguity is also found in the research’s local context, Northern Portugal, and its native language. Given the practical implications of the findings and the challenges facing vernacular crafts, the paper aims to establish a taxonomy that can serve as a common ground for cooperation between academia, practitioners and public institutions. The methodology involved a comprehensive collection of terminology from the literature review, semi-structured interviews with active designers, experts/researchers, and craftspeople, and a systematic data analysis. The interview statements were recorded to compare how they understand and use craft-related terminology. This analysis was interwoven with the literature review, clarifying the local context of the research, its boundaries, actors, and associated assumptions. As a result, we present five categories corresponding to five dimensions of ‘craft’: craft as an artefact, craft as a skill, craft as an activity, craft as a process and craft as knowledge. Furthermore, the paper relates the taxonomy to specific terms in the Portuguese language.