word-paintv.
/ˈwəːdpeɪnt/, U.S. /ˈwərdˌpeɪnt/ transitive. To describe or depict vividly in words; to make a word picture of. Also intransitive.
ΘΠ
the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > describe [verb (transitive)] > in detail or graphically
descrive?c1225
depaint1382
painta1387
portraya1387
huea1525
portrait1581
imagea1586
picture1586
pencil1610
detail1650
depict1713
depicture1798
daguerreotype1839
word-paint1839
photograph1849
Kodak1892
1839 H. Winsor Pebblebrook & Harding Family iv. 25 Did any man, without actual prototype, conceive this Life, and thus word-paint it to the heart of millions?
1860 P. Bayne Ess. Biogr. & Crit. v. 293 To word-paint the wreathing of the mist and every caprice and humor of the sky, required rather an abundant supply of words.
1894 M. Dyan All in Man's Keeping vi His mother..word-painted a picture to him.
1928 P. Grainger Let. 23 Apr. in All-round Man (1994) 99 Wordpaint the girl's body when naked, whether thin or plump, how behaired, whether smallbreasted or how.
2003 R. Van Noy Surv. Interior iii. 98 He no longer word-paints but proceeds to give a scientific explanation for the ‘atmospheric effect’ at the top of summits.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
v.1839