vignette

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a brief, vivid description, scene, or episode that captures a person, place, or situation

   The memoir opens with a vignette of village life in winter.

2. 2
   noun

   an illustration, photograph, or design whose edges fade gradually into the surrounding surface

   The photographer softened the edges to create a vignette.

3. 3
   noun

   a small decorative illustration or ornamental design in a book or building

   A vine-shaped vignette decorated the chapter heading.

Simplified etymology

Vignette comes from French vignette, literally “little vine.” It was used in architecture for a carved representation of a vine and in design and book production for decorative foliage. From the mid-18th century it denoted a design that shaded into its background without a definite border. In the late 19th century it developed the modern sense of a brief, evocative description, account, or episode.

Borrowed from French vignette, a diminutive of vigne, 'vine,' ultimately from Latin vinea. The word first named a small vine-leaf ornament in a book, then other small illustrations and brief descriptive scenes.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary