Portray
/pɔːrˈtreɪ/noun
To represent or depict someone or something in words, images, or another artistic form.
Did you know?Portray and portrait share the same ancestry: both descend from Latin protrahere, meaning “to draw forth” or “bring into view.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*tragh-
“To draw, pull, or drag”
Classical Latin
Latin
trahere
“To draw, drag, or pull”
Classical Latin
Latin
protrahere
“To draw forth, bring out, or reveal”
12th–13th Century
Old French
portraire
“To depict, sketch, or draw forth an image”
14th Century
Middle English
purtreyen
“To depict or represent”
Modern English
English
portray
“To represent or depict”