画   Peinture   Painting  

Many words related to painting come from French and Italian.
De nombreux mots reliés à la peinture viennent du français et de l'italien.

These words are French:
art déco ('decorative art')
art nouveau ('new art') ⇨ Nouveau: New
beaux-arts ('fine arts') ⇨ Beau: Pretty
atelier (workshop)
avant-garde ('front line') ⇨ Avant: Before
bon à tirer ('good to pull', ready for printing)
collage ('gluing')
crayon ('made of chalk', pencil)
croquis (sketch) ⇨ Mordre: to Bite
frottage ('rubbing', 'polishing')
fusain (charcoal pencil) ★  fusain is the name of a Japanese tree.
gaufrage ('embossing')
genre ('kind', style)
incise ('cutting', carving)
lunette (small moon) ⇨ Lune: Moon
maquette ('model')
montage ('setting up') ⇨ Monter: to Climb
mural ('on a wall') ⇨ Mur: Wall
papier mâché ('chewed paper')
pochoir (stencil)
pointillism (pointillisme, '[painting with] small dots') ⇨ Pointu: Sharp
portrait (drawing of a person) ⇨ Tirer: to Draw
remarque ('comment', a marginal sketch)
repoussé ('pushed again', hammered from the reverse face)
salon ('big room', exhibition hall)
sanguine ('bloody') ⇨ Sang: Blood
tableau vivant ('living picture') ⇨ Vie: Life
tirage ('pulling', printing) ⇨ Tirer: to Draw
trompe l'Å“il ('trick the eye') ⇨ Å’il: Eye

These words are Italian:
chiaroscuro ('light and dark') ⇨ Obscur: Dark
contrapposto ('in counter position') ⇨ Poser: to Set
fresco ('fresh') ⇨ Frais: Cool
gesso ('gypsum', chalk)
impasto ('with paste')
intaglio (engraving) ⇨ Tailler: to Cut
mezzotint (mezzotinto, 'half tint') ⇨ Moitié: Half
terra cotta ('cooked earth') ⇨ Terre: Earth

These Italian words reached English through French:
guazzo ('aqueous', watercolor mixed with gum) → gouache ⇨ Eau: Water
paletta ('small shovel') → palette
pastello ('roll', crayon) → pastel

Sculpture and architecture also use some French and Italian words:
bas-relief (low relief) ⇨ Lever: to Raise
cornice (corniche, 'curve')
façade ('front view') ⇨ Voir: to See
frieze (frise, 'in Phrygian style')
jamb ('leg') ⇨ Jambe: Leg
nave (nef, 'ship') ⇨ Navire: Ship
portico (portique, 'passage') ⇨ Porte: Door
volute ('rolled') ⇨ Voûter: to Bend
quatrefoil (quatre-feuilles, 'four-leaf') ⇨ Quatre: Four
rosette ('small rose') ⇨ Rose: Pink
rotunda (rotonde, 'round') ⇨ Roue: Wheel

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音 Musique: Music
画 Peinture: Painting
唱 Chanter: to Sing
绘 Dessiner: to Draw

© Renaud Bouret