portraiture

See also: portraituré

English

Etymology

From Middle English portraiture, portrature, purtraiture, pourtreture, from Old French portraiture, pourtraiture and Anglo-Norman purtraiture.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔː(ɹ)tɹɪtjʊə(ɹ)/, /ˈpɔː(ɹ)tɹɪt͡ʃə(ɹ)/

Noun

portraiture (countable and uncountable, plural portraitures)

1. A portrait; a likeness; a painted resemblance; hence, that which is copied from some example or model.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

     For, by the image of my cause, I see / The portraiture of his.

2. The art of painting or photographing portraits.
3. A portrait (or portraits considered as a group).

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔʁ.tʁɛ.tyʁ/ ~ /pɔʁ.tʁe.tyʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: portraiturent, portraitures

Noun

portraiture f (plural portraitures)

1. (obsolete) portrait

Derived terms

• portraiturer

Verb

portraiture

1. inflection of portraiturer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “portraiture”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.