What does silhouette mean?

Definitions for silhouette
ˌsɪl uˈɛtsil·hou·ette

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word silhouette.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. silhouettenoun

    an outline of a solid object (as cast by its shadow)

  2. silhouetteverb

    a drawing of the outline of an object; filled in with some uniform color

  3. silhouetteverb

    project on a background, such as a screen, like a silhouette

  4. silhouetteverb

    represent by a silhouette

Wiktionary

  1. silhouettenoun

    An illustrated outline filled in with a solid color(s), usually only black, and intended to represent the shape of an object without revealing any other visual details; a similar appearance produced when the object being viewed is situated in relative darkness with brighter lighting behind it; a profile portrait in black, such as a shadow appears to be.

    I could see a silhouette of a figure looking out from the window, but I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman.

  2. silhouetteverb

    To represent by a silhouette; to project upon a background, so as to be like a silhouette.

  3. Etymology: From silhouette.

Wikipedia

  1. Silhouette

    A silhouette (English: SIL-oo-ET, French: [silwɛt]) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhouette is usually presented on a light background, usually white, or none at all. The silhouette differs from an outline, which depicts the edge of an object in a linear form, while a silhouette appears as a solid shape. Silhouette images may be created in any visual artistic media, but were first used to describe pieces of cut paper, which were then stuck to a backing in a contrasting colour, and often framed. Cutting portraits, generally in profile, from black card became popular in the mid-18th century, though the term silhouette was seldom used until the early decades of the 19th century, and the tradition has continued under this name into the 21st century. They represented a cheap but effective alternative to the portrait miniature, and skilled specialist artists could cut a high-quality bust portrait, by far the most common style, in a matter of minutes, working purely by eye. Other artists, especially from about 1790, drew an outline on paper, then painted it in, which could be equally quick. From its original graphic meaning, the term silhouette has been extended to describe the sight or representation of a person, object or scene that is backlit, and appears dark against a lighter background. Anything that appears this way, for example, a figure standing backlit in a doorway, may be described as "in silhouette". Because a silhouette emphasises the outline, the word has also been used in the fields of fashion and fitness to describe the shape of a person's body or the shape created by wearing clothing of a particular style or period.

ChatGPT

  1. silhouette

    A silhouette is an outline or a general shape of an object, person, or scene that appears solid and dark when viewed against a lighter background. Usually, the details within the shape are not visible, only the outline is seen. This term can also refer to a dark image on a light background in photography or art.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Silhouettenoun

    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

  2. Silhouetteverb

    to represent by a silhouette; to project upon a background, so as to be like a silhouette

  3. Etymology: [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.]

Wikidata

  1. Silhouette

    A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the whole is typically presented on a light background, usually white, or none at all. The silhouette differs from an outline which depicts the edge of an object in a linear form, while a silhouette appears as a solid shape. Silhouette images may be created in any visual artistic media, but the term normally describes pieces of cut paper, which were then stuck to a backing in a contrasting colour, and often framed. Cutting portraits, generally in profile, from black card became popular in the mid-18th century, though the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades of the 19th century, and the tradition has continued under this name into the 21st century. They represented a cheap but effective alternative to the portrait miniature, and skilled specialist artists could cut a high-quality bust portrait, by far the most common style, in a matter of minutes, working purely by eye. Other artists, especially from about 1790, drew an outline on paper, then painted it in, which could be equally quick. The leading 18th-century English "profilist" in painting, John Miers, advertised "three minute sittings", and the cost might be as low as half a crown around 1800. Miers' superior products could be in grisaille, with delicate highlights added in gold or yellow, and examples might be painted on various backings, including gesso, glass or ivory. The size was normally small, with many designed to fit into a locket, but otherwise a bust some 3 to 5 inches high was typical, with half- or full-length portraits proportionately larger.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. Silhouette

    name given to the profile of a portrait filled in with black; a design familiar to the ancients, and in vogue in France during the reign of Louis XV.

Etymology and Origins

  1. Silhouette

    After Etienne de Silhouette, Comptroller of Finance under Louis XV., who was the first to have his features outlined from a side view on black paper.

Matched Categories

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of silhouette in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of silhouette in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of silhouette in a Sentence

  1. Katniss Everdeens:

    I made a hoop skirt out of toilet paper, tape and glue, it was definitely the most difficult part of Katniss Everdeens wedding dress, which, you do n’t even see in the end. But it created the silhouette that I wanted.

  2. Lizzy Bowring:

    It's a slimmer silhouette -- much more concise and much more grown-up, it isn't a granola look, as one might say.

  3. Peter Pilotto:

    For us it was not really about launching menswear yet because we are not yet, but it was more about seeing how to change the female silhouette, as male designers we feel that more than ever it's important to connect even deeper to the garments so we wanted to be able to try them on ourselves and understand how they feel.

  4. Professor Brown:

    For decades radio interferometry has been done at centimetre wavelengths using telescopes spread across continents, however, if you do the same observations at millimetre wavelengths then you canproduce images with better resolution, and see (in silhouette) the black hole at the centre of our galaxy.

  5. Katie Cecilio:

    I picked this suit also because it complements my dog's color. When I'm behind him, it helps his silhouette stand out.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for silhouette

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"silhouette." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/silhouette>.

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