Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A representation of a small child, often naked and having wings, used especially in the art of the European Renaissance.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See puttoo.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A representation, in a work of art (especially Renaissance or Baroque), of a small, naked, winged child; a cherub.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian, boy, from Vulgar Latin *puttus, from Latin putus; see pau- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Italian putto, from Latin pūtus.

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Examples

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  • (n): a figure of an infant boy especially in European art of the Renaissance —usually used in plural, in art used in a fashion similar to cherubs

    January 22, 2008