Pourtraict

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a painted, drawn or carved likeness of a person ; to depict or represent someone or something in a picture or in writing
2. A picture, drawing or image showing the appearance of a person ; to set forth or describe a subject by means of painting, drawing or words
3. An old word for a representation of a human face or figure ; to portray or delineate a subject through an image or a verbal description

Etymology: "Pourtraict" is an obsolete spelling of "portrait," and the spelling tells the story: it preserves the French form the English word came through. Its ancestor is the Latin verb "protraho," literally "to draw forth," built from "pro-" (forth) and "traho" (to draw). In Old French this became "portraire," meaning to draw or depict, and its past participle was used as a noun, "portraict" or "pourtraict," for the picture produced. The English word therefore began as a drawing that was, quite literally, drawn out of the artist's hand. The image was the thing pulled forth, and the sense of "a likeness made by drawing" grew from that root. The "p" and silent "t" in older spellings reflect the French ancestor more faithfully than the modern form does.