noun
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the art or process of applying paints to a surface such as canvas, to make a picture or other artistic composition
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a composition or picture made in this way
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the act of applying paint to a surface with a brush
Etymology
Origin of painting
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at paint, -ing 1
Explanation
If you want to study painting, go to art school. If that doesn’t work out, maybe you can get a job painting houses. Then you can paint a house purple or paint a picture, which is called a painting. Slapping a coat of paint on your apartment walls is painting, but so is creating a masterpiece like Van Gogh's "Starry Night" or maybe even C.M. Coolidge’s “Dogs Playing Poker.” The picture that results from your painting experiments is also called a painting. The Latin root of painting, pingere, means "to paint," but also "to stain, embroider, or tattoo."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mull, who died in 2024, received his master of fine arts degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1967.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
Aside from learning to prepare lessons and navigate behavior issues, they complete activities similar to the children’s, including painting as well as outdoor play using toy hoops and bouncy balls.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
He painted The Beheading of St. John the Baptist, which still hangs in St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, and is the only painting Caravaggio ever signed.
From Slate • Jun. 6, 2026
In the most commanding painting of this section, Jeong Seon’s “Clearing After Rain on Mt. Inwang” from 1751, roiling clusters of dark hills are split by hidden ravines and jutting waterfalls.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
Like most children, Cassiopeia did not always find grown-up conversations interesting to listen to, and she was too eager to show off her painting to wait any longer.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
