LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

pictūra

pictūra f (genitive pictūrae)
Classical[pɪkˈtuː.ra]Ecclesiastical[pikˈtuː.ra]

Meaning

  1. painting, the art of painting
    accedant statuae et picturae.65 C.E., Seneca, Epistles, 16.8
  2. picture (image), a painting
    Mūtum est pictūra poēma.A picture is a silent poem.

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

imāgō picta
pictūra -ae (f) — in Aeneis, ch. 4

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativepictūrapictūrae
genitivepictūraepictūrārum
dativepictūraepictūrīs
accusativepictūrampictūrās
ablativepictūrāpictūrīs
vocativepictūrapictūrae

pictūra, ae, f. pingo,
I. painting, the art of painting.
I. Lit.: una est ars ratioque picturae, Cic. de Or. 3, 7, 26; 1, 16, 73; id. Brut. 18, 70; App. Mund. p. 66, 23.—
B. In partic., a painting of the face, Plaut. Most. 1, 3, 105.—
C. Transf., concr., a painting, picture (cf. tabula): et si qua inutilis pictura sit, eam vendat, Plaut. As. 4, 1, 10; Cic. Or. 11, 36: nego ullam picturam neque in tabulis neque textilem fuisse, quin conquisierit, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 1, § 1: accedant statuae et picturae, Sen. Ep. 16, 8: positae sunt picturae Herculis liberos occidentis, id. Contr. 5, 34, 14: statuas et picturas avehere, Tac. A. 16, 23: dicitur tabulam picturae cedere, Gai. Inst. 2, 78.—Of embroideries: textilibus picturis, Lucr. 2, 35.—Of paintings in Mosaic, Verg. Cul. 64.—Of a carving in relief: et sculpsit in eis picturam cherubim, Vulg. 3 Reg. 6, 32.—
II. Trop., a painting, picture in words: animum ab istā picturā imaginibusque virtutum traducere, Cic. Tusc. 5, 5, 14: Homerum tradunt caecum fuisse; at ejus picturam, non poësin videmus, id. ib. 5, 39, 114.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*peyḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pinéḱti
  3. Proto-Italic*pingō
  4. Latinpictūra

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-? Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂? Latin -tūra Latin pictūra From pingō (“to paint”) + -tūra.

Descendants
  • Italianpittura
  • Catalanpinturafrom Vulgar Latin *pinctūra
  • Frenchpeinturefrom Vulgar Latin *pinctūra
  • Englishpainturefrom Vulgar Latin *pinctūra
  • Italianpinturafrom Vulgar Latin *pinctūra
  • Occitanpinturafrom Vulgar Latin *pinctūra
  • Portuguesepinturafrom Vulgar Latin *pinctūra
  • Spanishpinturafrom Vulgar Latin *pinctūra
  • Englishpicturefrom Middle English picture
  • Romanianpictură

In English words that came into English from pictūra

  • picturepictūra
  • picturapictūra

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesPicturaPictura (γραφή, γραφική, ζῳγραφία), painting. 1. Definition of terms. The word γράφω originally implies the engraving of signs of any kind, and from t…

Quick answers

What does pictūra mean in Latin?
pictūra, a noun, means “painting, the art of painting; picture (image), a painting”.
What is the genitive of pictūra?
The genitive singular is pictūrae. pictūra is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce pictūra?
In classical Latin, [pɪkˈtuː.ra]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [pikˈtuː.ra].
Where does pictūra come from?
Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- → Proto-Indo-European *pinéḱti → Proto-Italic *pingō → Latin pictūra.