Definitions

What is a definition? There is no one way to state what it is, except to make clear and specific the meaning of a word. The definition of Art expanded upon the invention of the camera, and then exploded along with the invention of the computer and various programs. Photography and Computer Art are now being exhibited and sold as “Art” while freehand drawing and painting are becoming things of the past (horse and buggy, analog electronics, childhood group activities organized & managed by children, etc.). Photographs can be modified to resemble paintings, and computer generated images can be printed to resemble paintings (rough surfaces interpreted as brush strokes or uneven distribution of paints).
I have sponsored many on-line art contests with specific rules, but receive some entries of works completed in excluded media (photographs for paintings only, “digital art” for paintings and drawings only, as a couple examples). Either they don’t read the rules or ignore them.
I think of the contests as a reflection of social science – wanting to change the meanings of words (adding exceptions to the definition or enlarging the definition) or wanting to have absolute control (pick and choose the rules that benefit one). Then, when will a word reach a definition where it no longer applies to the true nature of the person, thing, animal, or event?
In the future will definitions and connotations become the same? Aristotle, we need your help.
Could it be one part of us view art as a profession while another part of us view it as a business? Therefore, when I think of the art as a business I think of it as different from other business – no doubt that auto repair, supermarket, department store, airline (to name a few) operate differently. Art is susceptible to redefinition, and could become a blur.