Depiction

How to spell depiction

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce depiction

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does depiction mean?

1. nounA representation of something in a picture, words, or other artistic form.

Depiction in a sentence

• The painting offered a vivid depiction of village life in the 1800s.

• Critics praised the film for its honest depiction of grief.

Where does depiction come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin verb depingere, meaning 'to paint completely' or 'to portray', formed from the prefix de-, which here intensifies the action, and pingere, meaning 'to paint'. The past participle of that verb was depictus, literally 'painted' or 'portrayed', and the noun depictio described the act of painting or representing something. English took up 'depict' in the early 1600s and built 'depiction' on the same Latin stem to name the picture or account itself. The root pingere also lies behind familiar relatives such as 'picture', 'pigment', and 'paint', all of which keep that hidden 'c'-then-'t' spelling cluster. Remembering that the middle of the word is 'pict', just as in 'picture', is the surest way to keep the 'ct' in 'depiction'.

How the word is built

• de- (down, fully)
• pict (from pingere: to paint)
• -ion (noun of action)