vignette

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (3)  · 
Higher in the corner house, and so near the roof that it scarcely seemed possible for a grown man to stand upright behind it, was an oeil de boeuf looking down upon the other roofs, and framed in that circular opening like a vignette was the handsome face of Major Ostrander.

View all »
Definitions (17)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun A decorative design placed at the beginning or end of a book or chapter of a book or along the border of a page.
  2. noun An unbordered picture, often a portrait, that shades off into the surrounding color at the edges.
  3. noun A short, usually descriptive literary sketch.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (14)

  • There is a literary form, all but forgotten these days, formally known as the vignette and more familiarly as the short-short. —  EBSCOhost
  • I also have a personal vignette which is at least some way down the path from anectdote to evidence; e.g., a personal "series." —  MacInTouch
  • The initial vignette, which is by Faucher-Gudin, represents a royal figure kneeling and holding a large nail in both hands. —  History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 3 (of 12)
  • That in a vignette is the trouble in all this discussion. —  Mankind in the Making
  • Higher in the corner house, and so near the roof that it scarcely seemed possible for a grown man to stand upright behind it, was an oeil de boeuf looking down upon the other roofs, and framed in that circular opening like a vignette was the handsome face of Major Ostrander. —  Tales of Trail and Town
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 668 times.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French, from Old French, diminutive of vigne, vine (from the use of vine tendrils in decorative borders); see vine.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Formerly also vignette; from French vignette, diminutive of vigne, vineyard, vine, from Latin vinea, a vine: see vine.
  2. from vignette, n.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/vɪnˈyɛt/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word several times a year.

Recently looked up

vigilant · forward · rotor · roe · carve

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

eu oi oìa u ou e u oìa · the octopi are dry · Kansas City · spell it rite · put it in your pocket