portrait

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɔːtɹeɪt/, /ˈpɔːtɹɪt/ (UK); /ˈpɔɹtɹət/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French portrait, the noun use of the past participle of Old French portraire (“to paint, depict”) (see portray),^[2][3][4][5] from por- and traire (“to draw”), from Latin trahere (“to draw”);^[4] it is partly a back-formation from portraiture.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A drawing, painting or carving of any object: 1560 in MWU, the 1560s in Etymonline, 1570 in Barnhart, in George Buchanan's works.^[5][3][2]

Semantic evolution

A likeness of a person, especially of the face, the main modern sense, is from 1585.^[6][3] A statue or effigy was also a portrait (1585), now obsolete.^[6] A vivid description in words follows.^[7][8] In printing and computing, portrait format, taller than it is wide, is from 1975 in MWU.^[5][8]

Timeline

• 1560 – a picture of any object.^[5]
• 1585 – a likeness of a person.^[6]
• 1975 – portrait format.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A painting, drawing or photograph of a person, especially of the face.
2. A vivid description in words.

Adjective

1. Of a page or screen, taller than it is wide.

Word family

• portraitlike
• portraitist
• self-portrait

Related words

• portray
• trait
• portraiture
• tract
• attract

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins