Picturing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of forming a mental image of something or the process of visualizing an idea
2. Creating a representation in one's mind of a scenario or concept through imagination or recollection
3. The ability to conceive and imagine an image or scene based on thoughts or experiences

Etymology: "Picturing" is the present participle and gerund of "picture," so its story is really the story of the noun. The Latin root is "pingere," meaning "to paint," which also gave English words like "pigment" and "depict." From it the Romans formed "pictura," meaning the art of painting or a painting itself, and English took the word through Middle English "picture" in the sense of a painted or drawn image. The verb's sense of forming a mental image grew out of that visual meaning. Once a picture could be a likeness made by hand, speakers began using the word for conjuring a scene in the mind's eye, as if the imagination were painting it. "Picturing" thus carries the idea of a canvas that exists only inside your head.

Synonyms: imagining, visualizing, envisioning, depicting