Main Entry:

¹sil·hou·ette

Pronunciation:

\ˌsi-lə-ˈwet\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

French, from Étienne de Silhouette †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