silhouette

common nounproper noun

Syllable Decomposition

silhouette

By antonomasia, from the surname of Étienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), Controller General of Finances in 1759 under Louis XV. He became so unpopular that his name was attached to what was mean or unfinished. Were thus called "à la silhouette" the breeches without a purse to deposit one's money, the plain wooden snuffboxes, as well as the portraits traced and then cut out from the shadow of the face, fashionable at the time. The fashion of silhouette cutters lasted for a few decades and this common name, recognized by the Académie Française in 1833, is now of international scope.

Definitions

Plural

silhouettes

Translations

  • germangerman:Silhouette
  • englishenglish:outline
  • spanishspanish:silueta
  • greekgreek:σιλουέτα
  • italianitalian:siluetta
  • dutchdutch:silhouet
  • polishpolish:sylwetka
  • portugueseportuguese:silhueta
  • russianrussian:фигура
  • swedishswedish:silhuett

See also

silhouettes (v.) silhouetter (v.) Silhouette (pn.)