Emily Dickinson Lexicon

POR'TRAIT, n. [Fr. portrait, from portraire, to draw, Eng. to portray; pour, Eng. for, fore, and traire, L. trahere, Eng. to draw; Arm. pourtrezi. The Italian is ritratto, Sp. and Port. retrato, from L. re and tracto.]

A picture or representation of a person, and especially of a face, drawn from the life. In portraits, the grace, and we may add, the likeness, consists more in the general air than in the exact similitude of every feature. – Reynolds.