Wiktionary defines the noun 'artist' (Singular: artist; Plural: artists) as follows:

1. A person who creates art.
2. A person who creates art as an occupation.
3. A person who is skilled at some activity

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the older broad meanings of the term "artist,"

• A learned person or Master of Arts (now rather obsolete)
• One who pursues a practical science, traditionally medicine, astrology, alchemy, chemistry (also obsolete)
• A follower of a pursuit in which skill comes by study or practice - the opposite of a theorist
• A follower of a manual art, such as a mechanic - partly obsolete
• One who makes their craft a fine art
• One who cultivates one of the fine arts - traditionally the arts presided over by the muses - now the dominant usage

A definition of Artist from Princeton.edu: creative person (a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination).