painter

painter — noun

1. an artist who creates pictures by spreading colours onto a surface such as canva

1.nounA2
Definition

an artist who creates pictures by spreading colours onto a surface such as canvas or paper, often as a career or a serious hobby.

Example

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who often put herself in her pictures.

common pattern: '[adjective of nationality] + painter'

Lina dreams of becoming a painter and selling her work in a small gallery.

'become a painter' for choosing it as a career

Common collocations
  • landscape painter
  • portrait painter
  • abstract painter
  • watercolour painter
  • self-taught painter
  • famous painter
Synonyms
  • artist

    broader — covers sculptors, illustrators, and others, not only those who use paint

  • illustrator

    creates pictures for books, magazines, or posters rather than gallery art

Grammar Patterns

a painter of [subject]

a [adjective] painter

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 2: this sense refers to fine-art creators, often modified by an art style or subject ('landscape painter', 'portrait painter', 'abstract painter'). Sense 2 (the trade worker) is usually unmodified or paired with a building-trade word.

Common Mistakes

My sister wants to be a painter, so she studies houses.
My sister wants to be a painter, so she studies art.
for the artist sense, the related field is art, not building trades.

2. a tradesperson hired to coat the walls, doors, ceilings, and outside woodwork of

2.nounA2
Definition

a tradesperson hired to coat the walls, doors, ceilings, and outside woodwork of houses or other buildings with paint.

Example

We hired a local painter to repaint the kitchen before the baby arrived.

collocation: 'hire a painter'

The painter spent two days putting a fresh coat of white on the bedroom walls.

typical action: 'put a coat of [colour] on [surface]'

Common collocations
  • hire a painter
  • house painter
  • painter and decorator
  • professional painter
  • local painter
Synonyms
  • decorator

    British — often used together as 'painter and decorator'; covers wallpaper too

  • house painter

    American — makes the trade clear and avoids confusion with the artist sense

Grammar Patterns

hire a painter

a painter and decorator

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense names a trade worker, not an artist. Often appears with verbs of hiring or scheduling ('hire/call/book a painter') and with words for surfaces and tools ('walls', 'ladder', 'brush', 'overalls'). The British compound 'painter and decorator' is fixed.

Common Mistakes

The painter finished a beautiful portrait of my grandmother.
The artist finished a beautiful portrait of my grandmother.
for fine-art works, prefer 'artist' or sense 1 'painter' with art context to avoid sounding like the trade worker.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name people who make pictures, but they differ in scope and medium. 'Artist' is the widest term and covers anyone who creates visual art, including sculptors, photographers, and performance artists; a painter is one kind of artist. 'Painter' is specific to those who work with paint on surfaces such as canvas, wood, or walls. 'Illustrator' picks out someone who makes pictures to go with text — for books, magazines, advertisements, or websites — and the work is usually printed rather than hung in a gallery. 'Draughtsman' (or 'draftsman') focuses on careful drawing in pencil, pen, or ink, especially detailed technical or architectural drawings. So Picasso is a painter and an artist; the person who drew the pictures in your favourite children's book is an illustrator; the person who drew the plans for your house is a draughtsman.

painter ↗artist ↗illustrator ↗draughtsman

Common collocations

Nouns

  • landscape painter
  • portrait painter
  • house painter
  • watercolour painter
  • abstract painter
  • court painter

Phrases

  • famous painter
  • self-taught painter
  • young painter
  • professional painter
  • painter and decorator

Prepositions

  • a painter of [subject]
  • by the painter

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishModern English

From Old French 'peintour', meaning a person who paints, which came from Latin 'pictor' (painter), built on 'pingere' (to paint, to draw, to embroider). English borrowed the word in the 14th century, at first mostly for craftsmen who decorated walls, furniture, and shields, and only later widening to include fine-art creators. The same Latin root gives us 'picture', 'pictorial', and 'pigment'.