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Picture definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PIC'TURE, n. [L. pictura, from pingo, to paint.]
1. A painting exhibiting the resemblance of any thing; a likeness drawn in colors.
Pictures and shapes are but secondary objects.
2. The words of painters; painting.
Quintilian, when he saw any well expressed image of grief, either in picture or sculpture, would usually weep.
3. Any resemblance or representation, either to the eye or to the understanding. Thus we say, a child is the picture of his father; the poet has drawn an exquisite picture of grief.
PIC'TURE, v.t. To paint a resemblance.
Love is like a painter, who, in drawing the picture of a friend having a blemish in one eye, would picture only the other side of the face.
1. To represent; to form or present an ideal likeness.
I do picture it in my mind.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface; "they showed us the pictures of their wedding"; "a movie is a series of images projected so rapidly that the eye integrates them" [syn: picture, image, icon, ikon]
2: graphic art consisting of an artistic composition made by applying paints to a surface; "a small painting by Picasso"; "he bought the painting as an investment"; "his pictures hang in the Louvre" [syn: painting, picture]
3: a clear and telling mental image; "he described his mental picture of his assailant"; "he had no clear picture of himself or his world"; "the events left a permanent impression in his mind" [syn: mental picture, picture, impression]
4: a situation treated as an observable object; "the political picture is favorable"; "the religious scene in England has changed in the last century" [syn: picture, scene]
5: illustrations used to decorate or explain a text; "the dictionary had many pictures" [syn: picture, pictorial matter]
6: a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement; "they went to a movie every Saturday night"; "the film was shot on location" [syn: movie, film, picture, moving picture, moving-picture show, motion picture, motion-picture show, picture show, pic, flick]
7: the visible part of a television transmission; "they could still receive the sound but the picture was gone" [syn: video, picture]
8: a graphic or vivid verbal description; "too often the narrative was interrupted by long word pictures"; "the author gives a depressing picture of life in Poland"; "the pamphlet contained brief characterizations of famous Vermonters" [syn: word picture, word-painting, delineation, depiction, picture, characterization, characterisation]
9: a typical example of some state or quality; "the very picture of a modern general"; "she was the picture of despair"
10: a representation of a person or scene in the form of a print or transparent slide; recorded by a camera on light- sensitive material [syn: photograph, photo, exposure, picture, pic] v
1: imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind; "I can't see him on horseback!"; "I can see what will happen"; "I can see a risk in this strategy" [syn: visualize, visualise, envision, project, fancy, see, figure, picture, image]
2: show in, or as in, a picture; "This scene depicts country life"; "the face of the child is rendered with much tenderness in this painting" [syn: picture, depict, render, show]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin pictura, from pictus, past participle of pingere to paint — more at paint Date: 15th century 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> II. transitive verb (pictured; picturing) Date: 15th century 1. to paint or draw a representation, image, or visual conception of ; depict; also illustrate 2. to describe graphically in words 3. to form a mental image of ; imagine

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a (often attrib.) a painting, drawing, photograph, etc., esp. as a work of art (picture frame). b a portrait, esp. a photograph, of a person (does not like to have her picture taken). c a beautiful object (her hat is a picture). 2 a a total visual or mental impression produced; a scene (the picture looks bleak). b a written or spoken description (drew a vivid picture of moral decay). 3 a a film. b (in pl.) Brit. a showing of films at a cinema (went to the pictures). c (in pl.) films in general. 4 an image on a television screen. 5 colloq. a esp. iron. a person or thing exemplifying something (he was the picture of innocence). b a person or thing resembling another closely (the picture of her aunt). --v.tr. 1 represent in a picture. 2 (also refl.; often foll. by to) imagine, esp. visually or vividly (pictured it to herself). 3 describe graphically. Phrases and idioms: get the picture colloq. grasp the tendency or drift of circumstances, information, etc. in the picture fully informed or noticed. out of the picture uninvolved, inactive; irrelevant. picture-book a book containing many illustrations. picture-card a court-card. picture-gallery a place containing an exhibition or collection of pictures. picture-goer a person who frequents the cinema. picture hat a woman's wide-brimmed highly decorated hat as in pictures by Reynolds and Gainsborough. picture-moulding 1 woodwork etc. used for framing pictures. 2 a rail on a wall used for hanging pictures from. picture-palace (or -theatre) Brit. archaic a cinema. picture postcard a postcard with a picture on one side. picture window a very large window consisting of one pane of glass. picture-writing a mode of recording events etc. by pictorial symbols as in early hieroglyphics etc. Etymology: ME f. L pictura f. pingere pict- paint

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Picture Pic"ture, n. Animated picture, a moving picture. Pierre-perdu Pierre`-per`du", n. [F. pierre perdue lost stone.] Blocks of stone or concrete heaped loosely in the water to make a foundation (as for a sea wall), a mole, etc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Picture Pic"ture, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pictured; p. pr. & vb. n. Picturing.] To draw or paint a resemblance of; to delineate; to represent; to form or present an ideal likeness of; to bring before the mind. ``I . . . do picture it in my mind.'' --Spenser. I have not seen him so pictured. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Picture Pic"ture, n. [L. pictura, fr. pingere, pictum, to paint: cf. F. peinture. See Paint.] 1. The art of painting; representation by painting. [Obs.] Any well-expressed image . . . either in picture or sculpture. --Sir H. Wotton. 2. A representation of anything (as a person, a landscape, a building) upon canvas, paper, or other surface, produced by means of painting, drawing, engraving, photography, etc.; a representation in colors. By extension, a figure; a model. Pictures and shapes are but secondary objects. --Bacon. The young king's picture . . . in virgin wax. --Howell. 3. An image or resemblance; a representation, either to the eye or to the mind; that which, by its likeness, brings vividly to mind some other thing; as, a child is the picture of his father; the man is the picture of grief. My eyes make pictures when they are shut. --Coleridge. Note: Picture is often used adjectively, or in forming self-explaining compounds; as, picture book or picture-book, picture frame or picture-frame, picture seller or picture-seller, etc. Picture gallery, a gallery, or large apartment, devoted to the exhibition of pictures. Picture red, a rod of metal tube fixed to the walls of a room, from which pictures are hung. Picture writing. (a) The art of recording events, or of expressing messages, by means of pictures representing the actions or circumstances in question. --Tylor. (b) The record or message so represented; as, the picture writing of the American Indians. Syn: Picture, Painting. Usage: Every kind of representation by drawing or painting is a picture, whether made with oil colors, water colors, pencil, crayons, or India ink; strictly, a painting is a picture made by means of colored paints, usually applied moist with a brush.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(pictures, picturing, pictured) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A picture consists of lines and shapes which are drawn, painted, or printed on a surface and show a person, thing, or scene. A picture of Rory O'Moore hangs in the dining room at Kildangan. N-COUNT 2. A picture is a photograph. The tourists have nothing to do but take pictures of each other... N-COUNT 3. Television pictures are the scenes which you see on a television screen. ...heartrending television pictures of human suffering. N-COUNT: usu pl 4. To be pictured somewhere, for example in a newspaper or magazine, means to appear in a photograph or picture. The golfer is pictured on many of the front pages, kissing his trophy as he holds it aloft. ...a woman who claimed she had been pictured dancing with a celebrity in Stringfellows nightclub... The rattan and wrought-iron chair pictured here costs £125. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed, be V-ed -ing, V-ed 5. You can refer to a film as a picture. ...a director of epic action pictures. N-COUNT 6. If you go to the pictures, you go to a cinema to see a film. (BRIT; in AM, use the movies) We're going to the pictures tonight... = cinema N-PLURAL: the N 7. If you have a picture of something in your mind, you have a clear idea or memory of it in your mind as if you were actually seeing it. We are just trying to get our picture of the whole afternoon straight... = image N-COUNT: oft N of n 8. If you picture something in your mind, you think of it and have such a clear memory or idea of it that you seem to be able to see it. He pictured her with long black braided hair... He pictured Claire sitting out in the car, waiting for him... I tried to picture the place, but could not. = imagine VERB: V n prep, V n -ing, V n 9. A picture of something is a description of it or an indication of what it is like. I'll try and give you a better picture of what the boys do... N-COUNT: usu sing, with supp 10. When you refer to the picture in a particular place, you are referring to the situation there. It's a similar picture across the border in Ethiopia. = situation N-SING: oft the N 11. If you get the picture, you understand the situation, especially one which someone is describing to you. Luke never tells you the whole story, but you always get the picture. = get the idea PHRASE: V inflects 12. If you say that someone is in the picture, you mean that they are involved in the situation that you are talking about. If you say that they are out of the picture, you mean that they are not involved in the situation. Meyerson is back in the picture after disappearing in July... PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v 13. You use picture to describe what someone looks like. For example, if you say that someone is a picture of health or the picture of misery, you mean that they look extremely healthy or extremely miserable. We found her standing on a chair, the picture of terror, screaming hysterically. PHRASE: v-link PHR 14. If you put someone in the picture, you tell them about a situation which they need to know about. Has Inspector Fayard put you in the picture? PHRASE: V inflects

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pik'-tur: This word (in the plural) is found 3 times in the King James Version, namely, Nu 33:52; Isa 2:16; Pr 25:11. In Numbers and Proverbs "pictures" represents the Hebrew word maskith, "showpiece" "figure." The context in Numbers suggests that the "pictures" or "carved figures" (the Revised Version (British and American) "figured stones") which the Israelites were to destroy were symbols of Canaanite worship and therefore foreign to the religion of Yahweh. In Proverbs for the King James Version "pictures of silver," the English Revised Version has "baskets (the American Standard Revised Version "network") of silver," but a more probable translation is "carvings of silver." "Pictures" stands for a slightly different word (but from the same root) in Isaiah, namely, sekhuyoth; the Revised Version (British and American) renders "imagery" (the Revised Version margin "watchtowers"). The prophet probably alludes to carved figures (of gods in animal or human shapes) on the prows of vessels.

T. Lewis

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Painting, drawing, engraving, print. 2. Image, resemblance, semblance, likeness, representation, similitude. 3. Description, representation. II. v. a. Paint, draw, represent, delineate, form an image of.

Moby Thesaurus

3-D, CRT spot, Cinemascope, Cinerama, DM display, Doppler signal, IF signal, IM display, RF echoes, Technicolor, Telephoto, Vorstellung, Western, Wirephoto, abstract, abstraction, aerial photograph, ally, altarpiece, alter ego, analogon, analogue, animated cartoon, approach, arrangement, artwork, associate, attack, badge, banner, beam, beat signal, black spot, black-and-white film, black-and-white photograph, blips, block print, bloom, blooping, blueprint, blueprinting, bounces, brass tacks, bring to life, brother, calculation, call to mind, call up, cameo, candid photograph, carbon copy, cartoon, catalog, cataloging, catch a likeness, certified copy, chalk, character, character sketch, characteristic, characterization, characterize, charcoal, chart, charting, cheesecake, chiller, chronophotograph, cine, cinema, close copy, close match, cognate, collage, color, color film, color photograph, color print, companion, complement, concept, conception, conceptualization, congenator, congener, conjure up, contrivance, coordinate, copy, correlate, correlative, correspondent, counterfeit, counterpart, crayon, creepie, crosshatch, cyclorama, dash off, daub, dead ringer, definition, delineate, delineation, depict, depiction, describe, description, design, details, device, diagram, diapositive, differentia, diptych, display, disposition, documentary, documentary film, doodle, double, double-dot display, draft, draw, drawing, duplicate, earmark, echo, echo signal, ectype, educational film, effigy, eidetic image, embodiment, engraving, enterprise, envisage, envisagement, envisaging, envision, envisioning, epitome, equivalent, essence, essential facts, essentials, evocation, evoke, exact likeness, express, eyeful, facsimile, fair copy, faithful copy, fake, fancy, feature, fellow, figuring, film, flare, flick, flicker, foresight, forethought, forgery, fresco, fringe area, game, ghost, give words to, granulation, graphic account, graphing, grid, ground plan, guidelines, hallmark, hard shadow, hatch, heliochrome, heliograph, hit off, horror picture, horse opera, icon, idea, idiosyncrasy, idol, illumination, illustrate, illustration, image, imagery, imagery study, imagine, imaging, imagism, imitation, impression, incarnation, index, indicant, indicator, insignia, intention, interpret, itemization, just see, keynote, kindred spirit, layout, lifelike image, like, likeness, limn, limning, lineup, living image, living picture, local oscillator signal, long-range plan, map, mapping, mark, master plan, match, mate, measure, mental image, mental picture, mental representation, method, methodology, miniature, mirroring, model, montage, mosaic, motion picture, motion-picture show, movie, moving picture, mug, mug shot, multiple image, mural, near duplicate, newsreel, noise, notate, note, notion, nudie, objectification, objectify, obverse, operations research, organization, outline, output signal, paint, paint a picture, painting, panorama, parallel, particularization, pasticcio, pastiche, peculiarity, pencil, pendant, personification, phony, photo, photobiography, photochronograph, photodrama, photograph, photomap, photomicrograph, photomontage, photomural, photoplay, picture noise, picture shifts, picture show, picturing, picturize, pinup, pips, plan, planning, planning function, poem, poetic imagery, pornographic film, portrait, portraiture, portray, portrayal, prearrangement, presentment, preview, print, procedure, profile, program, program of action, property, prototype, radar signal, rain, rationalization, reading, realize, reciprocal, reflection, register, render, rendering, rendition, represent, representation, representative, reproduction, resemblance, return, return signal, ringer, rolling, rub, rubbing, scanning pattern, schedule, schema, schematism, schematization, schematize, scheme, scheme of arrangement, scintillation, scratch, scumble, seal, second self, see, semblance, set forth, setup, shade, shading, shadow, short, shot, show, sigil, sign, signal, signal display, signature, silent, silent film, similitude, simulacrum, sister, sketch, skin flick, slide, snap, snapshot, sneak preview, snow, snowstorm, soul mate, spaghetti Western, specification, spit, spit and image, spitting image, spot, stained glass window, stamp, stencil, still, still life, still photograph, strategic plan, strategy, such, suchlike, summon up, sure sign, symbolize, symptom, system, systematization, tableau, tactical plan, tactics, take a rubbing, talkie, talking picture, tally, tapestry, target image, telephotograph, telltale sign, the big picture, the data, the details, the dope, the facts, the information, the like of, the likes of, the particulars, the picture, the scoop, the score, the specifics, the whole story, thing of beauty, thriller, tint, trace, trace out, trace over, tracing, trailer, trait, transmitter signal, transparency, triptych, twin, underground film, understanding, very image, very picture, video signal, vignette, vision, visual image, visualization, visualize, vivid description, wall painting, way, word painting, word-painting, working plan, write