portrayal

Etymology

From portray +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌpɔɹˈtɹeɪ.əl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪəl
• Hyphenation: por‧tray‧al

Noun

portrayal (plural portrayals)

1. The act of portraying.
2. The result of portraying; a representation, description, or portrait.
   • 1866, Charlotte Yonge, The Dove in the Eagle's Nest

     He had already designed the portrayal of his father as the old white king, and himself as the young white king, in a series of woodcuts illustrating the narrative which culminated in the one romance of his life, ...

   • 1909, Arnold Bennett, Literary Taste

     For days afterwards you will not be able to look upon a child without recalling Lamb's portrayal of the grace of childhood.

   • 1994, Sara K. Schneider, Concert Song as Seen, page 28:

     Dickens was the quintessential actor, luxuriating in the portrayal of his idiosyncratic characters. In contrast, more than a characterist, Poe was above all a wonderfully musical reader, […]

   • 2009, Hans Krabbendam, Cornelis A. van Minnen, Giles Scott-Smith, Four Centuries of Dutch-American Relations: 1609-2009, page 238:

     Images of Dutchness in American visual culture and literature during the nineteenth century differed radically between portrayals of the Netherlands Dutch and those of the American Dutch.