A portrait is a picture of a person, usually focusing on their face and expression. When an artist creates a portrait, they try to capture something essential about that person's character, mood, or personality through careful attention to details like expression, posture, and lighting. A great portrait might show a grandmother's kindness in her gentle smile, or a scientist's intensity in a focused gaze.

Throughout history, portraits served as the main way people preserved what loved ones looked like before cameras existed. Kings and queens commissioned official portraits to project power and authority. Wealthy families hired artists to paint portraits that would hang in their homes for generations. Today, while we take countless photos, painted or drawn portraits still hold special meaning because of the time, skill, and attention an artist devotes to capturing a person.

The word can also describe writing that reveals someone's character. A biography might include a vivid portrait of Abraham Lincoln that helps readers understand not just what he did, but what kind of person he was. When a writer creates a portrait of a historical figure, they're painting with words instead of paint.

In portrait mode or portrait orientation, a picture or page is taller than it is wide, like how you'd naturally frame a standing person.