Definition of "portray"

portray

/pɔːˈtɹeɪ/

verb
third-person singular simple present portrays, present participle portraying, simple past and past participle portrayed
1. To paint or draw the likeness of.
2. (figuratively) To represent by an image or look.
  Quotations
  Upon his browes was pourtraid vgly death,And in his eies the furies of his heart,That ſhine as Comets, menacing reueng,And caſts a pale complexion on his cheeks.
  c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, Act III, scene ii
3. (figuratively) To describe in words; to convey.
4. To play a role; to depict a character, person, situation, or event.
5. (obsolete) To adorn.