picture

Everyday

1. A picture is a drawing, painting or photo. tree →
2. To picture something means to see it in your mind, to imagine it. tree →
3. The picture can mean the general idea of a situation: get the picture. tree →
4. In old use, «the pictures» means the cinema. tree →
5. A picture can also be a lovely view or scene that you look at. tree →

In the lessons

In maths: pictures drawn, taken or hung are counted; a picture with width and height can ask for a frame's perimeter or the area; «draw a picture» is a way to solve a problem; a picture graph (pictogram) uses pictures for numbers. In art lessons: draw a picture, paint a picture. Phrases: take a picture, draw a picture, picture book, picture frame, the big picture, get the picture.

Examples

• Sara drew 5 pictures each day. tree →
• The album holds 6 pictures on each page. tree →
• The picture is 30 cm wide and 20 cm tall. tree →
• Draw a picture to solve the problem. tree →
• Can you picture a city under the sea? tree →
• We took pictures of the waterfall. tree →
• My little sister reads picture books. tree →
• Hang the picture straight on the wall. tree →
• Look at the picture and describe what you see. tree →

Note

Countable. Verb: «picture yourself», «pictured». Usually the thing counted. With width and height, the frame around it is a perimeter. «Draw a picture» is advice, not a quantity. Trap: a frame around the picture is bigger than the picture itself.

In Jewish tradition

In the Sefer Yetzirah commentary it means a symbolic image, as when letters are said to be images of angels.

Interpretation. Kabbalists teach that the vowels and the letters of God's name stand for higher powers.

Examples

• The vowel letters, however, the letters of the Tetra- grammaton, are images and pictures of superior angels. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →

Note

Countable. Verb: «picture yourself», «pictured». Usually the thing counted. With width and height, the frame around it is a perimeter. «Draw a picture» is advice, not a quantity. Trap: a frame around the picture is bigger than the picture itself.