portray
[pawr-trey, pohr-]
- to make a likeness of by drawing, painting, carving, or the like.
- to depict in words; describe graphically.
- to represent dramatically, as on the stage: He portrayed Napoleon in the play.
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Origin of portray
1300–50; Middle English portrayen < Middle French portraire < Late Latin prōtrahere to depict, Latin: to draw forth, equivalent to prō- pro-1 + trahere to draw
Synonyms
See more synonyms for portray on Thesaurus.com1, 2. picture, delineate, limn.
Synonym study
1, 2. See depict.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for portraying
Contemporary Examples
Were you playing up or, on the flip side, shying away from portraying a romantic attraction?
Or one portraying the former KGB officer as a superhero surrounded by doves?
Do you feel they did an ample job of portraying his troubled later years—in particular, the violence towards women?
Octavia Spencer on Hollywood and Race: The Film Roles I’m Offered Are Too SmallMarlow Stern
July 31, 2014
What goes into portraying one of the most terrifying villains on TV?
OITNB’s New Villain Vee, Played By Lorraine Toussaint, Speaks for the First TimeKevin Fallon
June 13, 2014
This season has raised the bar on portraying psychotic breakdowns.
Historical Examples
He began by portraying in ardent language the sufferings he had undergone.
The Swedish Revolution Under Gustavus VasaPaul Barron Watson
"Those devouring eyes and that portraying hand," Emerson says.
Fresh FieldsJohn Burroughs
He saw that she was portraying what she had in her mind's eye.
The Red and the BlackStendhal
In this work his individual manner of portraying a face is entirely formed.
Auguste RodinRainer Maria Rilke
But they are useless from the point of view intended, as portraying a man.
The Christ MythArthur Drews
portray
- to represent in a painting, drawing, sculpture, etc; make a portrait of
- to make a verbal picture of; depict in words
- to play the part of (a character) in a play or film
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French portraire to depict, from Latin prōtrahere to drag forth, bring to light, from pro- 1 + trahere to drag
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 portraying
portray
v.
mid-13c., "to draw, paint" (something), from Anglo-French purtraire, Old French portraire "to draw, to paint, portray" (12c.), literally "trace, draw forth," from por- "forth" (from Latin pro-; see pro-) + traire "trace, draw," from Latin trahere "to drag, draw" (see tract (n.1)). Meaning "depict in words, describe" is from late 14c. Related: Portrayed; portraying.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper