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silhouette - 5 dictionary results

sil⋅hou⋅ette

[sil-oo-et] noun, verb, -et⋅ted, -et⋅ting.
–noun
1. a two-dimensional representation of the outline of an object, as a cutout or configurational drawing, uniformly filled in with black, esp. a black-paper, miniature cutout of the outlines of a famous person's face.
2. the outline or general shape of something: the slim silhouette of a skyscraper.
3. a dark image outlined against a lighter background.
–verb (used with object)
4. to show in or as if in a silhouette.
5. Printing. to remove the background details from (a halftone cut) so as to produce an outline effect.

Origin:
1790–1800; < F à la silhouette, after Etienne de Silhouette (1709–67), French finance minister
sil·hou·ette   (sĭl'ōō-ět')   
n.  
  1. A drawing consisting of the outline of something, especially a human profile, filled in with a solid color.
  2. An outline that appears dark against a light background. See Synonyms at outline.
tr.v.   sil·hou·et·ted, sil·hou·et·ting, sil·hou·ettes
To cause to be seen as a silhouette; outline: Figures were silhouetted against the setting sun.

[French, after Étienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), French finance minister.]

Silhouette

Sil`hou*ette"\, n. [F.; -- so called from Etienne de Silhoutte, a French minister of finance in 1759, whise diversion it was to make such portraits on the walls of his apartments.] A representation of the outlines of an object filled in with a black color; a profile portrait in black, such as a shadow appears to be.

Silhouette

Sil`hou*ette"\, v. t. To represent by a silhouette; to project upon a background, so as to be like a silhouette. [Recent]

A flock of roasting vultures silhouetted on the sky. --The Century.
Language Translation for : silhouette
Spanish: silueta,
German: die Silhouette,das Schattenbild,
Japanese: シルエット

silhouette 
1798, from Fr. silhouette, in allusion to Étienne de Silhouette (1709-67), Fr. minister of finance in 1759. Usually said to be so called because it was an inexpensive way of making a likeness of someone, a derisive reference to Silhouette's petty economies to finance the Seven Years' War, which were unpopular among the nobility. But other theories are that it refers to his brief tenure in office, or the story that he decorated his chateau with such portraits. The verb is recorded from 1876.
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