Portrait - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Portrait :  (noun)
1: a painting of a person's face
2: a word picture of a person's appearance and character [syn: portrayal, portraiture]
3: any likeness of a person; "the photographer made excellent portraits" [syn: portrayal]

Based on WordNet 2.0

Portrait : \Por"trait\, n. [F., originally p. p. of portraire to portray. See Portray.] 1. The likeness of a person, painted, drawn, or engraved; commonly, a representation of the human face painted from real life.

In portraits, the grace, and, we may add, the likeness, consists more in the general air than in the exact similitude of every feature. --Sir J. Reynolds.

Note: The meaning of the word is sometimes extended so as to include a photographic likeness.

2. Hence, any graphic or vivid delineation or description of a person; as, a portrait in words.

Portrait bust, or Portrait statue, a bust or statue representing the actual features or person of an individual; -- in distinction from an ideal bust or statue.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Portrait : \Por"trait\, v. t. To portray; to draw. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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