Étienne de Silhouette's surname is, in turn,gallicizedBasque. It derives fromZiloeta orZilhoeta, modernBasqueZulueta, from the local plural (see-ak) stem ofzulo(“hole, cave”).
An illustratedoutline 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.[mid 19th c.]
I could see asilhouette of a figure looking out from the window, but I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman.
1950 January, Arthur F. Beckenham, “With British Railways to the Far North”, inRailway Magazine, page 5:
At Stirling, we obtained a wonderfulsilhouette view of the Wallace Monument, and the dark line of the Ochil Hills, and the castle stood out clearly against the afterglow of the sunset.
(fashion) The outline of a garment as it appears on the wearer.
A-line is a classicsilhouette for dresses and skirts.
To represent by a silhouette; to project upon a background, so as to be like a silhouette.[late 19th c.]
1929, Robert Dean Frisbee,The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published2019, page35:
Scores of coconut-shell fires blazed with their characteristic glaring white flame, throwing grotesque shadows on the brown thatched huts, dancing fairylike shimmerings among the domes of coconut fronds, casting ghostly reaches of light through the adjacent graveyards, andsilhouetting the forms ofpareu-clad natives at work cleaning their fish or laying them on the live coals to broil.
1944 July and August, “Top Link Drivers: XXI—Driver H. Blunt, L.N.E.R.”, inRailway Magazine, page226:
Driving 2-6-2 locomotive No. 4771Green Arrow, Blunt suddenly noticed that the tunnel mouth wassilhouetted in a dazzling white glare and that incendiary bombs were showering down in their hundreds, he slammed on all his brakes and brought his train to a stop just inside the tunnel.
AfterÉtienne de Silhouette (1709–1767), French Controller of Finances. De Silhouette'spenny-pinching led to the termà la Silhouette, applied to things perceived as cheap oraustere, such as anoutline filled only with black.
Étienne de Silhouette's surname is, in turn,gallicizedBasque. It derives fromZiloeta orZilhoeta, modernBasqueZulueta, from the local plural (see-ak) stem ofzulo(“hole, cave”).
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silhouette on Wikipedia.Wikipedia