silhouette
common nounproper noun
Syllable Decomposition
silhouetteBy 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
german:Silhouette
english:outline
spanish:silueta
greek:σιλουέτα
italian:siluetta
dutch:silhouet
polish:sylwetka
portuguese:silhueta
russian:фигура
swedish:silhuett
See also
silhouettes (v.) silhouetter (v.) Silhouette (pn.)