Etymologically
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pictura

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [pɪkˈtuː.ra][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [pikˈtuː.ra][1]

Forms

pictūra f (genitive pictūrae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin pingō (“to paint”) + -tura.[2][1][3] The verb is inherited from Proto-Italic *ping-e/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pi-n-ḱ- (“to paint, adorn”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[3][4] who uses it of painting the face: “do you want to touch up a lovely work with new paint?”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the action or art of painting, as Cicero's “there is one art and method of painting”, and a painting or picture, as in Terence.[2][5] The Rhetorica ad Herennium says a poem should be a speaking picture and a picture a silent poem.[2]

It was also used of coloured embroidery, natural colouring or markings, as Pliny's markings of gems, peacocks and tigers, and of a mental image, as Virgil's Aeneas feeding his mind on an empty picture.[2] English picture was borrowed in the early 15th century, first for the art of painting.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of face paint.[2][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a painting.[2][4]
  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium calls painting a silent poem.[2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a mental image.[2][4]
  • early 15th century – English picture is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The action or art of painting.[2][1]
  2. A painting, picture.[2][1]
  3. Embroidery, appliqué work.[2]
  4. Natural colouring, markings.[2]
  5. A mental image.[2]

Word family

  • pictūrātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com