# painter

Pronunciation: US say "PAYN-tur" /ˈpeɪntɚ/; UK say "PAYN-tuh" /ˈpeɪntə/

## Noun

1. An artist who paints pictures.
   - Simple: An artist who makes pictures using paint and a brush.
   - _The museum acquired three works by a seventeenth-century Dutch painter._
   - _He trained as a painter before turning to sculpture._
2. A worker who paints surfaces such as walls or buildings, using a paintbrush or other means.
   - Simple: A worker whose job is to paint walls, houses, or other surfaces.
   - _The contractor sent two painters to finish the hallway trim by Friday._
   - _A painter spent the week sanding and priming the bridge's steel beams._
3. A line fixed to the bow of a small boat such as a dinghy, by which the boat is tied up or towed.
   - Simple: A rope fixed to the front of a small boat, used for tying it up or pulling it.
   - _She secured the dinghy's painter to a cleat on the dock._
   - _After the outboard died, a passing motorboat towed us in by our painter._
4. A mountain lion, the large wild cat also known as a cougar or puma. *(dialectal, Southern US)*
   - Simple: A large wild cat, also called a mountain lion or cougar.
   - _Old-timers in the valley still tell stories about the painter that screamed on the ridge at night._
   - _He claimed a painter had been raiding his hog pen for weeks._

## Noun

5. A chain or rope used to secure the shank of an anchor to the ship's side when the anchor was not in use. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A chain or rope used to hold a ship's anchor against the ship's side when not in use.
   - _The bosun checked that the anchor's painter was taut before the ship got under way._
   - _When the painter parted in heavy seas, the anchor hammered against the hull all night._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2** — From Middle English paynter or peyntere, equivalent to paint plus the suffix -er.
**Meanings 3, 5** — Probably from Middle French pendeur.
**Meaning 4** — From a variation of panther, paralleling other Southern pronunciations such as those for can't and aunt.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/painter (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).