picture

The word “picture” means a drawing, painting, or photograph representing something. In plain terms, an image, or the mental idea of one — as a noun a picture, as a verb to imagine.

“Picture” is pronounced PIHK-chuh (/ˈpɪk.t͡ʃɚ/ in IPA).

Here is “picture” used in a sentence: “She hung a picture of the coastline above the fireplace.”

Depending on how it is used, “picture” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “picture” comes from Latin. From Old French picture, from Latin pictūra ("a painting"), from pingere ("to paint").

“Picture” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Picture” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a drawing, painting, or photograph representing something.

A photograph is one specific kind of picture, created with a camera that captures light. Picture is the broader word, covering drawings, paintings, and prints as well as photos. So every photograph is a picture, but a picture is not always a photograph — it may be hand-drawn or painted instead.

Picture usually means a physical or clearly visible representation, like a framed drawing or photo. Image is broader and more abstract: it can be a picture, but also a reflection, a mental image in your mind, or digital data on a screen. Every picture is an image, but not every image is a picture.

Besides a drawing, painting, or photo, picture has other uses. It can mean a cinema film, as in 'going to the pictures.' It can describe an overall situation, as in 'the bigger picture.' As a verb, to picture something means to imagine or visualise it clearly in your mind.

A family photograph on the wall is a common example of a picture. So is a child's crayon drawing, an oil painting in a gallery, or an illustration in a book. Each is a visual representation of something, whether created by hand with pencil and paint or captured with a camera.