See Also: portrait(medicine)
portrait(1)(dictionary)
portrait(2)(dictionary)
self-portrait(dictionary)
portrait parle(dictionary)
portrait 1, noun(dictionary)
portrait 2, adjective(dictionary)
National Portrait Gallery(dictionary)
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, A(dictionary)

portrait(1) (iou)



portrait noun, adjective, & adverb. M16.
[French, use as noun of pa. pple of Old French portraire: see PORTRAY verb.]
A. noun.
a. A drawing, painting, or other delineation of an object, scene, etc.; gen. a picture, a design. Now rare or obsolete. M16.
b. spec. A representation or delineation of a person or animal, esp. of the face or head and shoulders, made by drawing, painting, photography, etc.; a likeness. L16.
M. Muggeridge There were portraits of all the Austrian Emperors.
c. A solid image, a statue, an effigy. L16-M17.
The action or art of making a portrait; portraiture. L16.
a. A thing which or person who represents, typifies, or resembles another; an image, a representation, a likeness. L16.
b. A verbal picture or representation; a graphic or vivid description. L16.
Comb.: portrait-bust a bust giving an exact, as opp. to an idealized, likeness; portrait-gallery a gallery containing a collection of portraits, the collection itself; portrait-lens a compound photographic lens adapted for taking portraits; portrait-painter a painter of portraits; portrait-stone a lasque or flat diamond used to cover a miniature portrait.
b. adjective & adverb. Of a page, book, etc., or the manner in which it is set or printed: upright; having or in a rectangular shape with the height greater than the width. Opp. LANDSCAPE adjective & adverb. E20.