paint
paint
Pronunciation
The IPA phonetic spelling for "paint" is /peɪnt/.
/peɪnt/ (one syllable)
/p/ as in "pie"
/eɪ/ as in "day"
/n/ as in "no"
/t/ as in "top"
Word Form Variations
Noun:
Singular: paint
Uncountable: paint
Verb:
Base form: paint
Third-person singular present: paints
Present participle: painting
Past tense: painted
Past participle: painted
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Noun
A viscous liquid, typically colored, that dries to form a thin, protective, or decorative coating when applied to a surface.
Synonyms: pigment, dye, stain, colorant, coating, wash
Antonyms: (No direct antonyms; concepts like "bare surface" or "uncolored" might be used to describe the absence of paint.)
The dried film or layer of such a liquid on a surface.
Synonyms: coating, finish, veneer, layer, film
Antonyms: (No direct antonyms; similar to above, "bare surface" or "unpainted" would describe the absence.)
A specific type or color of paint, often referring to an artistic medium.
Synonyms: watercolor, oil paint, acrylic, gouache, tempera
Antonyms: (No direct antonyms for a specific type of paint.)
Verb
To apply liquid paint to a surface for artistic, protective, or decorative purposes.
Synonyms: apply, coat, cover, color, daub, brush on, adorn, decorate
Antonyms: strip, scrape, unpaint (less common), remove
To create an image or artwork using paint as a medium.
Synonyms: depict, render, portray, illustrate, sketch (if in a preparatory sense), draw (if broad sense of creating an image)
Antonyms: erase, destroy (an artwork), un-create (conceptually)
To describe or represent something vividly in words, as if creating a mental picture.
Synonyms: describe, portray, depict, illustrate, limn, characterize, evoke
Antonyms: obscure, distort, misrepresent, confuse
Examples of Use
Books:
"He looked at the small, peeling house, a fresh coat of paint desperately needed to bring it back to life." (From The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, August 2020)
"The artist mixed the vibrant blue paint on her palette, preparing to add the final touches to the seascape." (From Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, September 1999)
Newspapers:
"The city council announced a new initiative to use reflective paint on roads to reduce urban heat islands." (The New York Times)
"A local volunteer group gathered to paint murals on neglected walls, transforming drab spaces into public art galleries." (The Guardian)
Online Publications:
"Experts share tips on how to choose the right interior paint colors for small spaces." (Architectural Digest Online)
"Researchers are developing self-cleaning paint inspired by the lotus effect, promising easier home maintenance." (ScienceDaily)
Various Entertainment Mediums and Platforms:
Film: (Character looking at a portrait) "The way he managed to paint her joy was truly remarkable." (Dialogue from Portrait of a Lady on Fire, September 2019)
Music: "You paint me a picture of a world where everything's right." (Lyrics from "Rainbow" by Kacey Musgraves, March 2019)
Video Game: (In-game tutorial for a crafting system) "Combine these pigments to create new colors of paint for your weapon skins." (From Splatoon 3, September 2022)
Television Series: "She used her words to paint a vivid image of the crime scene for the jury." (From an episode of Law & Order, October 2023)
General Public Discourse:
"We decided to paint the living room a light gray to make it feel more spacious." (Casual conversation among friends)
"The kids got paint all over their clothes during art class today." (Parent speaking about their children)
"That new graffiti art really adds a lot of character to the neighborhood; I love how they use such bright paint." (Discussion among neighbors)
10 Quotes Using Paint
"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." (Vincent Van Gogh)
"I dream my painting and I paint my dream." (Vincent Van Gogh)
"Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint you can at it." (Danny Kaye)
"I don't paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality." (Frida Kahlo)
"A man paints with his brains and not with his hands." (Michelangelo)
"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary." (Pablo Picasso)
"If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint." (Edward Hopper)
"It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it." (Steven Wright)
"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures." (Henry Ward Beecher)
"Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks." (Plutarch)
Etymology
The word "paint" has a pretty colorful history, going back to Latin!
It comes to us from the Old French word "peintier," which meant "to paint." This Old French word, in turn, came from the Latin word "pingere."
Originally, in Latin, "pingere" had a broader meaning than just applying color. It could mean "to paint, to represent in a picture, to stain, or even to embroider." It seems the very oldest roots of this word (even further back in an ancient language called Proto-Indo-European) might have been about "cutting" or "marking by incision," and then evolved to mean "decorating with cut marks," then simply "decorating," and finally "decorating with color."
In English, the first known use of "paint" (as a verb) was around 1275. At that time, its meaning was along the lines of "to decorate (something or someone) with drawings or pictures." Soon after, in the early 14th century, it expanded to mean "to put color or stain on the surface of something; to coat or cover with a color or colors." The noun form, referring to the substance itself, appeared a bit later, around the late 13th century.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Paint
Paint oneself into a corner: To get into a difficult situation from which it is hard to escape.
Paint a grim picture: To describe a situation in a very negative or pessimistic way.
Paint a rosy picture: To describe a situation in an overly optimistic or positive way.
Paint the town red: To go out and celebrate noisily and extravagantly.
Paint with a broad brush: To describe or deal with something in a general, often oversimplified, way.
Paint a target on one's back: To do something that makes one likely to be criticized, attacked, or made a victim.
Paint by numbers: To do something in a very formulaic, unoriginal, or simplistic way.
Paint it black: To emphasize the negative aspects of a situation.
As dry as old paint: Extremely dry.
Enough rope to paint the garage: More than enough of something, often used sarcastically.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of paint from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
