picture

¹pic·ture

noun \ˈpik-chər\

Definition of PICTURE

1

: a design or representation made by various means (as painting, drawing, or photography)

2

a : a description so vivid or graphic as to suggest a mental image or give an accurate idea of something <the book gives a detailed picture of what is happening> b : a mental image

3

: image, copy <he was the picture of his father> <she was the very picture of health>

4

a : a transitory visible image or reproduction b : motion picture c plural : movies

5

: tableau 2

6

: situation <took a hard look at his financial picture>

Examples of PICTURE

1. I hung the picture on the wall.
2. The book has a lot of pictures.
3. Draw a picture of your house.
4. The staff looked at the financial picture of the company.
5. The overall economic picture is improving.

Origin of PICTURE

Middle English, from Latin pictura, from pictus, past participle of pingere to paint — more at paint

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to PICTURE

Synonyms: icon (also ikon), illustration, image, likeness

Related Words: delineation, depiction, representation, resemblance, view; portrait; daub, drawing, finger painting; etching, silhouette, sketch, watercolor; caricature, cartoon, doodle; collage, montage, photograph; hieroglyph, hieroglyphic, ideogram, ideograph; pictograph; diagram

Near Antonyms: antithesis, converse, opposite, reverse

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Other Fine Arts Terms

Gothic, baroque, bas-relief, limn, oeuvre, pastiche, rococo, sfumato

Rhymes with PICTURE

stricture