Mugshots

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Photographic portraits taken of individuals by law enforcement upon arrest; face images used for identification; official pictures recorded in police files
2. Standardized photographs capturing suspects' faces during booking processes; visual records for criminal identification; images stored as legal documentation
3. Head and shoulder photographs made by police after an arrest; images utilized in criminal records; pictures recorded to identify detainees

Etymology: "Mugshots" is the plural of "mugshot," a noun whose parts are easy to read: "mug," slang for a face, and "shot," meaning a photograph. The pairing reflects how the picture was understood, a photograph of a face taken for the record. The word describes head-and-shoulder photographs that police make after an arrest, and the images are kept in criminal records so that detainees can be identified later. Because the photograph is the point of the image, the term names the picture itself rather than the process of taking it.

Synonyms: photographs, portraits