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portrait

[pawr-trit, -treyt, pohr-]

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noun

a likeness of a person, especially of the face, as a painting, drawing, or photograph: a gallery of family portraits.

a verbal picture or description, usually of a person: a biography that provides a fascinating portrait of an 18th-century rogue.

Origin:
1560–70; < Middle French: a drawing, image, etc., noun use of past participle of portraire to portray

Related forms

por·trait·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To portrait

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Portrait is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

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Example Sentences

But her portrait was always a mosaic, never a simple story of struggle.

The resulting portrait is unself-consciously sympathetic.

However, a clearer portrait of pleasure is now emerging.

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But her portrait was always a mosaic, never a simple story of struggle.

The resulting portrait is unself-consciously sympathetic.

However, a clearer portrait of pleasure is now emerging.

We challenged our readers to give us their best portrait photos and vote on which ones they liked best.

The portrait that emerges is of a culture that's insanely obsessed with pedigree.

It lacks any pretension to depth as a psychological portrait.

There's something about seeing a person with their bike that shows a lot more than a straight portrait.

It is an attempt to paint a portrait of a time when the continent is plugging in to the rest.

Decide whose portrait to hang, what to put on your desk, and even what food to serve.

Think of this as the portrait of the artist about to blow up.

He paints a haunting portrait of a people blown to the winds by a forgotten storm.

The new work is part of an emerging portrait of the broader connections between music, emotion and speech.

Just because mom lives in another state doesn't mean she can't be in the family portrait.

They believed that each time a person had a portrait made, a piece of that individual's soul was captured.

When he was released, he found work as an itinerant portrait photographer.

The iPhone's dock keeps things firmly in portrait format.

Maybe you'll be able to find a portrait of the little guy here: http://wwwjorgenlissnerdk/familiesaspx.

Beyond this, he also succeeds in painting a portrait of his times.

The constantly flickering colors attract your attention in a way that the static portrait does not.

What has emerged from her research is a portrait of emotionally intelligent boys who care about more than sports and cars.

Each of the five books presents a highly individualised portrait which can never be fully reconciled with the next.

Considers the wider cultural significance of a common portrait of the poet's readers as misguided and uncritical.

His portrait is ubiquitous, including on new banknotes issued this week.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

portrait (ˈpɔːtrɪt, -treɪt)

—n
1.	a. a painting, drawing, sculpture, photograph, or other likeness of an individual, esp of the face
	b. (as modifier): a portrait gallery
2.	a verbal description or picture, esp of a person's character

—*adj*
3.	printing Compare landscape (of a publication or an illustration in a publication) of greater height than width

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

portrait

late 14c. (in portreyture), from M.Fr. portrait, from O.Fr. portret (13c.), noun use of pp. of portraire "to paint, depict" (see portray).

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"It seems to be a law of nature that no man, unless he has some obvious physical deformity, ever is loth to sit for his portrait."

-Max Beerbohm

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