Adjacent Words

silhouette definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an outline of a solid object (as cast by its shadow)
2: a drawing of the outline of an object; filled in with some uniform color v
1: project on a background, such as a screen, like a silhouette
2: represent by a silhouette

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: French, from Étienne de Silhouette died 1767 French controller general of finances; perhaps from his ephemeral tenure Date: 1783 1. a likeness cut from dark material and mounted on a light ground or one sketched in outline and solidly colored in 2. the outline of a body viewed as circumscribing a mass <the silhouette of a bird> Synonyms: see outline II. transitive verb (-etted; -etting) Date: 1876 to represent by a silhouette; also to project on a background like a silhouette • silhouettist noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a representation of a person or thing showing the outline only, usu. done in solid black on white or cut from paper. 2 the dark shadow or outline of a person or thing against a lighter background. --v.tr. represent or (usu. in passive) show in silhouette. Phrases and idioms: in silhouette seen or placed in outline. Etymology: étienne de Silhouette, Fr. author and politician d. 1767

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(silhouettes) 1. A silhouette is the solid dark shape that you see when someone or something has a bright light or pale background behind them. The dark silhouette of the castle ruins stood out boldly against the fading light. N-COUNT 2. The silhouette of something is the outline that it has, which often helps you to recognize it. ...the distinctive silhouette of his ears... N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

adumbration, black and white, broad lines, brouillon, cartoon, charcoal, charcoal drawing, chiaroscuro, configuration, contour, crayon, dark shade, delineate, delineation, design, diagram, doodle, draft, drawing, ebauche, echo, esquisse, features, figuration, figure, framework, galbe, gestalt, gloom, graph, head, limn, line, line drawing, lineaments, lineation, lines, main features, mere shadow, miniature, outline, pastel, pen-and-ink, pencil drawing, penumbra, portrait, portraiture, portrayal, profile, reflection, reflex, relief, rough copy, rough draft, rough outline, shade, shadiness, shadow, shadows numberless, shapes, silver-print drawing, sinopia, skeleton, sketch, skiagram, skiagraph, study, tournure, tracing, umbra, umbrage, umbrageousness, vignette