portrait definition - Dictionary

Dictionary

por·trait [ páwrtrət ]

noun (plural por·traits)

Definition:

1. picture of person: a painting, photograph, or drawing of somebody, somebody's face, or a related group

2. description: a description of something such as a person, place, or period

adjective

Definition:

taller than wide: describes a piece of paper, illustration, book, or page that is taller than it is wide.
See also landscape

[Mid-16th century. < French< past participle of Old French portraire (see portray)]

Cultural Note


	Portrait of a Lady, a novel (1881) by Henry James. Through the story of Isabel Archer, a young American woman who travels to Europe and is duped into marrying an urbane but materialistic fellow expatriate, the author explores the contrasting characteristics of the Old World (sophisticated but corrupt) and the New (idealistic but naive). It was made into a movie by Jane Campion in 1997.