Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “pictures” come from?

Pictures derives from Middle English pycture, Old French picture, and Latin pictura, the noun form of Latin pictus, past participle of pingere and pingo, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European peh₂ǵ-.

pictures (English): plural of picture; API pl; cinema, movie theatre

Definitions

  1. plural of picture; API pl; cinema, movie theatre

Ancestry of “pictures”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpictureA representation of anything upon canvas, paper,...
2Middle Englishpycture—
3Old Frenchpicture—
4Latinpictūra—
5Latinpingō—
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpeyḱ-to hew, cut out; to stitch, embroider, sting; to...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European peyḱ- →