Tasvir

Tasvir is a term in Persian, Urdu, and related languages that denotes an image, picture, or depiction. It encompasses a wide range of visual representations, including drawings, paintings, photographs, and digital images. In literary and artistic contexts, tasvir can refer to both the act of depicting something and the resulting depiction, and it is often used metaphorically to describe mental imagery or perception.

The word derives from the Arabic taswīr (تصوير), meaning to form or to depict, and has been adopted into Persian and Urdu with similar meanings. In transliteration, spellings such as tasvir, tasveer, or tasveere appear, reflecting regional pronunciation and orthography.

In everyday language, tasvir labels a visual image or photograph. In criticism and art history, it denotes an illustrative representation within a work. In media and digital platforms, tasvir appears as a generic label for images or image galleries in localization for speakers of Persian, Urdu, or related languages.

The term has a prominent place in South Asian and Middle Eastern cultural contexts, where visual representation has a long history in manuscript illumination, painting, photography, and cinema. It also features in poetry and prose as a device to describe imagery and perception.