pictorial

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

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

4. picturesque, vivid, striking, telling.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pictorially

Historical Examples of pictorially

She remembered now what she had heard, and she remembered it pictorially.
The Secret Agent
Joseph Conrad
You will really, pictorially, make the little woman whom I love.
The Letters of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Pictorially they are nearly always failures, and often ludicrously so.
Printers' Marks
William Roberts
Pictorially thus the isochromatic plate has something to recommend it.
The Barnet Book of Photography
Various
Pictorially three strawberry leaves and two pearls are shown.
English Heraldic Book-stamps
Cyril Davenport

British Dictionary definitions for pictorially

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

a magazine, newspaper, etc, containing many pictures
(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 pictorially

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.