portrait
//ˈpɔːtɹeɪt//
Forms
- Plural
- portraits
Definitions
1.A painting or other picture of a person, especially the head and shoulders.
- In portraits, the grace, and, we may add, the likeness, consists more in the general air than in the exact similitude of every feature.
2.An accurate depiction of a person, a mood, etc.
- The author painted a good portrait of urban life in New York in his latest book.
3.A print orientation where the vertical sides are longer than the horizontal sides.
1.Representing the actual features of an individual; not ideal.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3331
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Word family
Etymology
From Middle French portraict, pourtraict, nominal use of the past participle of portraire (“portray”), from Latin prōtrahō (< prō- + trahō).
Compare typologically English drawing.