Etymologically
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picturesque

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Pronunciation

  • /ˌpɪkt͡ʃəˈɹɛsk/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English picture + -esque, after French pittoresque (“of painting; worthy of being painted”),[2][3][4] itself from Italian pittoresco (“pictorial; of a painting, original or striking”),[2][5][6][7] from pittore (“painter”),[5][6][2] from Latin pictor (“painter”),[5][4][2] from the past participle of pingō (“to paint”).[8] Several dictionaries treat it as a borrowing of the French word with its double t changed to ct under the influence of picture,[6][4][9][10] and Klein calls it a blend of the two.[11] The French and Italian words are recorded first in the phrases à la pittoresque (1658) and alla pittoresca (mid-16th century), in the manner of painters.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Like a picture, suitable as the subject of a picture: 1703, in Steele's play The Tender Husband, according to Barnhart, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster;[3][5][8] the OED dates the quotation from that play 1705.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was soon applied especially to views and landscapes that are pleasing or striking in appearance.[2][7] By 1734 it was used of language and narrative, meaning graphic and vivid, sometimes, as Etymonline puts it, somewhat euphemistically;[5][2] the OED notes an ironical use for "careless of the truth, for effect".[2] As a noun, the picturesque, the qualities that make something picturesque, is recorded from 1749,[2][5] and in the later 18th century it named an aesthetic taste for such scenery: from 1756 the adjective could describe a person with that taste.[2] From 1795 a verb picturesque meant to make a place picturesque.[2] Dictionary.com notes that a picturesque account is less precise than a graphic one: striking, but possibly inaccurate or coloured by personal ideas.[10]

Timeline

  • 1703 – like a picture, fit to be painted.[3][5][8]
  • 1705 – first quotation in the OED, in Steele.[2]
  • before 1734 – of language, strikingly graphic or vivid.[2][5]
  • 1749 – noun, the picturesque.[2][5]
  • 1756 – having a taste for the picturesque.[2]
  • 1795 – verb, to make picturesque (now rare).[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Pleasing to look at, especially in a quaint or charming way; scenic: a picturesque harbour lined with fishing boats.[7][8][2]
  2. Like a picture, or suitable as the subject of a painting.[8][2]
  3. Of language or description: vivid and graphic, sometimes at the expense of accuracy.[7][2][10]
  4. Having a striking or colourful character.[7]

Noun

  1. the picturesque: picturesque qualities, or the aesthetic ideal of such scenery.[2][8]

Word family

  • picturesquely
  • picturesqueness
  • unpicturesque

Usage notes

Dictionary.com lists picturesque as a word sometimes confused with picaresque.[10]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.