Portrait \Por"trait\, n. [F., originally p. p. of portraire to
portray. See Portray.]
1. The likeness of a person, painted, drawn, or engraved;
commonly, a representation of the human face painted from
real life.
In portraits, the grace, and, we may add, the
likeness, consists more in the general air than in
the exact similitude of every feature. --Sir J.
Reynolds.
Note: The meaning of the word is sometimes extended so as to
include a photographic likeness.
2. Hence, any graphic or vivid delineation or description of
a person; as, a portrait in words.
Portrait bust, or Portrait statue, a bust or statue
representing the actual features or person of an
individual; -- in distinction from an ideal bust or
statue.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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