- present participle of paint.
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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
She believes the painting affirms that the bull knows what is best for Europa.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The painting was still more dangerous, she argues, because of its status: It was part of a series commissioned by Spain’s King Philip II, who identified with Zeus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The museum generally does not loan the painting "because she is our most important and precious painting", but the renovations allowed it to travel, Gosselink told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Following a 1984 show in Tokyo, the painting came to Osaka to mark the 400th anniversary of Japan-Netherlands relations, drawing 600,000 viewers, said the Asahi Shimbun, which organised the latest show.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
The painting showed an old man in cracked spectacles standing beside a lame horse, in the midst of a homestead that had burned to the ground, so that only the smoking ruins remained.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
The Osaka exhibition, running through September 27, will feature a total dozen paintings from the Mauritshuis collection, including Vermeer's "Diana and her Nymphs" and "The Laughing Man" by Rembrandt.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
The research is ultimately about preserving what the painting represents: a monumental encounter of cultures, said Davide Gasparotto, senior curator of paintings at the Getty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Police confirmed in a statement that the paintings by Cézanne, Renoir, and Matisse were recovered during searches, but gave no further details.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
There are high points throughout, such as groups of impressive drawings, punctuated by related signature paintings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The Louvre employed almost three hundred people, and many more had worked there or might know how its paintings were hung.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
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.
