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pictorial

[pik-tawr-ee-uh l, -tohr-ee-uh l]
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adjective
  1. pertaining to, expressed in, or of the nature of a picture.
  2. illustrated by or containing pictures: a pictorial history.
  3. of or relating to the art of painting and drawing pictures, the pictures themselves, or their makers: the pictorial masterpieces of the Renaissance.
  4. having or suggesting the visual appeal or imagery of a picture: a pictorial metaphor.
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noun
  1. a periodical in which pictures constitute an important feature.
  2. a magazine feature that is primarily photographic.
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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

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4. picturesque, vivid, striking, telling.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pictorially

Historical Examples

  • 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.

  • Pictorially they are nearly always failures, and often ludicrously so.

    Printers' Marks

    William Roberts

  • Pictorially thus the isochromatic plate has something to recommend it.

  • Pictorially three strawberry leaves and two pearls are shown.

British Dictionary definitions for pictorially

pictorial

adjective
  1. relating to, consisting of, or expressed by pictures
  2. (of books, newspapers, etc) containing pictures
  3. of or relating to painting or drawing
  4. (of language, style, etc) suggesting a picture; vivid; graphic
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noun
    1. a magazine, newspaper, etc, containing many pictures
    2. (capital when part of a name)the Sunday Pictorial
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Derived Formspictorially, adverb

Word Origin

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper