# picture

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpɪk.(t)ʃə/ · frequency rank #777

## Definitions
1. A representation of anything (as a person, a landscape, a building) upon canvas, paper, or other surface, by drawing, painting, printing, photography, etc.
2. An image; a representation as in the imagination.
3. A painting.
4. A photograph.
5. A motion picture.
6. ("the pictures") Cinema (as a form of entertainment).
7. A paragon, a perfect example or specimen (of a category).
8. An attractive sight.
9. The art of painting; representation by painting.
10. A figure; a model.
11. Situation.
12. A sample of an illegal drug.
13. A format string in the COBOL programming language.

## Etymology
From Middle English pycture, from Old French picture, itself from Latin pictūra (“the art of painting, a painting”), from pingō (“to paint”). Doublet of pictura.

## Easily confused with
- **posture** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/picture-vs-posture)
- **pictures** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/picture-vs-pictures)
- **puncture** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/picture-vs-puncture)
- **pasture** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pasture-vs-picture)

## Common misspellings (10)
`ipcture`, `pciture`, `piccture`, `pictrue`, `pictture`, `pictuer`, `picturre`, `picutre`, `pitcure`, `ppicture`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/picture