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.
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
But rather than expanding into contemporary Korean art movements like Dansaekhwa, the show takes us back in time, showing off the depth and direction of Lee’s classical collection through exemplary ceramics, Buddhist art, and painting.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
The film derives its title from the girl’s interest in “Little Irène,” a painting by influential French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
This 1768 painting of the silversmith and American revolutionary is both a tribute to the dignity of craftsmen and a work of canny political symbolism.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
“Well, it’s not quite finished yet, as I said! And this painting is a present for the baby, isn’t it, Beowulf, dear? All three of the children made presents for the baby. Isn’t that lovely?”
From "The Long-Lost Home" 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.
