| 释义 |
▪ I. silhouette, n.|sɪluːˈɛt|
[From the name of Étienne de Silhouette (1709–67), a French author and politician.
According to the usual account, which is that given by Mercier Tableau de Paris 147, the name was intended to ridicule the petty economies introduced by Silhouette while holding the office of Controller-general in 1759, but Hatzfeld & Darmesteter take it to refer to his brief tenure of that office. Littré, however, also quotes a statement that Silhouette himself made outline portraits with which he decorated the walls of his château at Bry-sur-Marne.]
1. a. A portrait obtained by tracing the outline of a profile, head, or figure by means of its shadow or in some other way, and filling in the whole with black; an outline portrait cut out of black paper; a figure or picture drawn or printed in solid black.
Details within the outline are sometimes indicated by white or gold lines. For an account of various methods employed in obtaining such portraits or pictures, see the Penny Cycl. XXII. 8.
1798W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. XXVII. 388 At best but the shadow of a shade,..the silhouette of a bust. 1801Fuseli Lect. Art i. 9 Skiagrams, simple outlines of a shade, similar to those which have been introduced to vulgar use by the students and parasites of Physiognomy, under the name of Silhouettes. 1806J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life xii. xxix, Whenever they send me their silhouettes, or what do they call them, I chuck them out of the window. 1860Thackeray Lovel ii, She had..silhouettes of her father and mother..hung up in the lodgings. 1880Print. Trades Jrnl. xxx. 40 The beauty of silhouettes (pictures printed in solid black) depends upon two things—artistic ability and careful printing.
attrib.1835[see silhouettist]. 1841Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. ii. Auto-da-fé ii, A garment..stuck thick With multiplied silhouette profiles of Nick. 1895Daily News 1 May 6/4 The archaic, dry, and silhouette style of the picture.
b. fig. A slight verbal sketch or description in outline of a person, etc.
1819Lady Morgan Autobiog. (1859) 313 The baron's silhouette of the Lady of Copet..was certainly very amusing. 1857C. Brontë Professor iii, The silhouette I have just thrown off. 1894J. Knight Garrick xvii. 311 Actors..of whom Pepys has given us silhouettes, and Colley Cibber portraits.
2. a. A dark outline, a shadow in profile, thrown up against a lighter background.
1843Thackeray Irish Sk.-bk. II. xiii. 233 Ghostly looking silhouettes. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre xxviii, Entering the gate and passing the shrubs, the silhouette of a house rose to view; black, low, and rather long. 1866Whittier Snow-Bound 167 The cat's dark silhouette on the wall. 1887Rider Haggard A. Quatermain 186, I saw the black silhouette of the old Zulu raise its arm in mute salute.
b. The contour or outline of a garment.
1920Glasgow Herald 27 Nov. 4 The silhouette of this season is..much more attractive than that last year approved by Dame Fashion. Ibid. 4 Dec. 4 See that you preserve the silhouette of the gown. 1978Country Life 17 Aug. 472/1 The new silhouette..is straight, narrow and short, with well defined, padded shoulders.
3. en (or in) silhouette, in outline, in profile.
1832J. P. Kennedy Swallow B. (1860) 18 At that hour nature draws her pictures en silhouette. 1886Illustr. Lond. News 6 Feb. 142/2, I shall be presented to you en silhouette, all black, and you will be required to recognise the portrait. 1889Harper's Weekly XXXIII. Suppl. 60 This framing of trees, which stand out in silhouette against a bright blue sky.
▪ II. silhouˈette, v.
[f. prec.]
1. trans. To represent in silhouette, to throw up the outline of. Chiefly used in past participle, and const. against or upon.
1876R. F. Burton Gorilla L. I. 137 We guided ourselves..towards a ghostly point, whose deeper blackness silhouetted it against the shades. 1882B. Harte Flip i, A spur of the coast range, which had been sharply silhouetted against the cloudless western sky. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 48, I have seen it silhouetted hard against tornado-clouds.
refl.1890S. J. Duncan Social Departure 311 The great ships silhouetted themselves upon a sky..gloriously blue.
2. intr. To show like a silhouette.
1884Harper's Mag. June 110/2 Their huge crowns silhouetting in clear-cut outlines against the eastern sky.
Hence silhouˈetted ppl. a., silhouˈetting vbl. n. Also silhouˈettist, a maker of silhouettes.
1835(title), Treatise on Silhouette Likenesses, by Monsieur Edouart, Silhouettist to the French Royal Family. 1888W. D. Lighthall Young Seigneur 97 The delicate silhouetting of the trees along the shore. 1890Eng. Illustr. Mag. July 748 The photographer..has focussed the silhouettist out of existence. Ibid. 752 If silhouetting be allowed to possess an artistic side. 1894M. Pemberton Sea Wolves iv. (1901) 23 The black hulls of innumerable barges and the silhouetted shapes of great steamers. |