pictorial

[pik-tawr-ee-uhl, -tohr-ee-uhl]

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adjective

pertaining to, expressed in, or of the nature of a picture.
illustrated by or containing pictures: a pictorial history.
of or relating to the art of painting and drawing pictures, the pictures themselves, or their makers: the pictorial masterpieces of the Renaissance.

having or suggesting the visual appeal or imagery of a picture: a pictorial metaphor.

noun

a periodical in which pictures constitute an important feature.
a magazine feature that is primarily photographic.

Origin of pictorial

1640–50; < Latin pictōri(us) of painting (pic-, variant stem of pingere to paint + -tōrius -tory¹) + -al¹

Related formspic·to·ri·al·ly, adverbpic·to·ri·al·ness, nounnon·pic·to·ri·al, adjectivenon·pic·to·ri·al·ly, adverbsem·i·pic·to·ri·al, adjectivesem·i·pic·to·ri·al·ly, adverbun·pic·to·ri·al, adjectiveun·pic·to·ri·al·ly, adverb

Synonyms for pictorial

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4. picturesque, vivid, striking, telling.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for pictorial

illustrated, visual, photographic, vivid, descriptive, drawn, illustrative, lifelike, outlined, painted, pictographic, picturesque, realistic, traced, delineated, depicted, diagrammatic, etched, iconographic, illustrational

Examples from the Web for pictorial

Contemporary Examples of pictorial

They are never portraits of specific individuals who might interest us, even visually, apart from their pictorial roles.
The Stacks: Edward Hopper’s X-Ray Vision
Hilton Kramer
October 25, 2014
He declared them to be “a pictorial representation of England as a free society and the liberator of other peoples.”
Virgin Sacrifice and the Meaning of the Parthenon
Nick Romeo
February 12, 2014

Historical Examples of pictorial

They tend to partake of the methods of pictorial caricature.
The American Mind
Bliss Perry
The least change in our point of view, gives the whole world a pictorial air.
Nature
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Mrs. Denyse pointed majestically to the pictorial blur in the paper.
Little Miss Grouch
Samuel Hopkins Adams
Nor is there any pictorial representation of the interior of the playhouse.
Shakespearean Playhouses
Joseph Quincy Adams
The first is taken from the Sunday Pictorial, of all papers.
The World in Chains
John Mavrogordato

British Dictionary definitions for pictorial

pictorial

adjective

relating to, consisting of, or expressed by pictures
(of books, newspapers, etc) containing pictures
of or relating to painting or drawing
(of language, style, etc) suggesting a picture; vivid; graphic

noun

1. a magazine, newspaper, etc, containing many pictures
2. (capital when part of a name)the Sunday Pictorial

Derived Formspictorially, adverb

Word Origin for pictorial

C17: from Late Latin pictōrius, from Latin pictor painter, from pingere to paint

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pictorial

adj.

1640s, from Latin pictorius "of a painter," from pictor "painter," from past participle stem of pingere "to make pictures" (see paint (v.)) + -al (1). The noun meaning "journal in which pictures are the main feature" is first recorded 1844. Related: Pictorially.