painter
1 Americannoun
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an artist who paints pictures.
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a person who coats walls or other surfaces with paint, especially as an occupation.
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Astronomy. Painter, the constellation Pictor.
noun
noun
noun
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a person who paints surfaces as a trade
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an artist who paints pictures
noun
Etymology
Origin of painter1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English peyntour, pentour, paint(o)ur, from Anglo-French peint(o)ur, from unattested Vulgar Latin pinctor, from Latin pictor (noun derivative of pingere paint ( def. ) + -or 2 ( def. ) ); -er 1 ( def. )
Origin of painter2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English peyntour, pentre, probably from Middle French pentoir, variant of pendoir “rope, cord for hanging things on,” from Old French pentoir, penteur; pend, -er 2
Origin of painter3
An Americanism dating back to 1755–65; variant of panther
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His artistic career began while studying art on a football scholarship at USC, where he met and was mentored by Hungarian painter Francis de Erdely.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
Carmen Bambach, a specialist in the Italian Renaissance, curated 175 works by Raphael for the first major exhibition devoted to the painter in the United States.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
Erasmus was impressed enough that when Holbein traveled to England in 1526, he sent the painter off with letters of introduction.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
The L.A.-based Iraqi painter Ali Eyal, who left his home country in 2017, experienced the fires through the prism of his tumultuous youth.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026
Swirls of silk thread on the bodice made rose-like designs that could have passed for a work by any master painter.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
