English
picture
Picture comes from Middle English picture, from Latin pictūra ‘the art of painting’, from pingō ‘to paint’, ultimately from PIE *peyḱ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peyḱ-‘to mark’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pinéḱtireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pingōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpingō‘to paint’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpictūra‘the art of painting’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500picture‘the act or discipline of drawing or painting’
- Englishearliest quotation 1655picture
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peyḱ-‘to mark’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pinéḱtireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pingōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpingō‘to paint’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpictūra‘the art of painting’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500picture‘the act or discipline of drawing or painting’
- Englishearliest quotation 1655picture
Earliest quotation: 1655, James Howell, To my Brother Dr. Howell: “the young king's picture[…]in virgin wax”.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- ‘to mark, paint’
fish, file, feud, piscina, 25 more
through Proto-Italic *pingō
through Latin pingō ‘to paint’
paint, pint, pigment, depiction, depict, pictorial, pimento, 8 more
Today it means
noun A representation of anything (as a person, a landscape, a building) upon canvas, paper, or other surface, by drawing, painting, printing, photography, etc.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- / picture