mural

[myoor-uhl]

noun

1. a large picture painted or affixed directly on a wall or ceiling.

2. a greatly enlarged photograph attached directly to a wall.

3. a wallpaper pattern representing a landscape or the like, often with very widely spaced repeats so as to produce the effect of a mural painting on a wall of average size; a trompe l'oeil.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling a wall.

2. executed on or affixed to a wall.

   mural inscriptions.

3. pertaining to any of several astronomical instruments that were affixed to a wall aligned on the plane of a meridian, and were formerly used to measure the altitude of celestial bodies.

   a mural quadrant; a mural circle.

mural

/ ˈmjʊərəl /

noun

1. a large painting or picture on a wall

adjective

1. of or relating to a wall

mural

1. A painting, usually large, made directly on a wall.

The Mexican artist Diego Rivera was noted for his production of murals.

Other Word Forms

• muralist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of mural¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin mūrālis, equivalent to mūr ( us ) wall + -ālis -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of mural¹

C15: from Latin mūrālis, from mūrus wall

Example Sentences

The colorful space, dominated by a giant rooster mural and pulsing with salsa, draws inspiration from across Latin America and the Caribbean.

From Salon

The annual holiday, scores of street renamings and public murals honor him, but they also tame his legacy into a universally palatable story of unity.

From Salon

I'm led through a series of concrete corridors at Vilnius Tech University, Lithuania; the murals give a Soviet-era vibe, and it seems an unlikely location for a high-tech lab working on a laser communication system.

From BBC

Police are investigating claims a street artist "vandalised" a listed block of flats by painting a mural which shows a couple falling from the top of the building.

From BBC

Colorful graphics crisscross the floor, and a bright, retro-inspired mural references images of aeronautics pioneers and the families using the facility itself.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• art 
• canvas 
• composition 
• depiction 
• landscape 
• oil painting 
• picture 
• portrait 
• sketch