vignette

Pronunciation

• IPA: /vɪnˈjɛt/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French vignette,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Old French vignette, a diminutive of vigne “vine, vineyard”, from the use of vine tendrils in decorative borders.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} An earlier anglicized borrowing, vinette, named a trailing vine ornament in architecture and decoration (before 1420).^[3][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

An ornamental design, originally of vine tendrils, on a blank space in a book, especially at the beginning or end of a chapter or around an illustration (1751 in the OED, Barnhart and Etymonline; 1611 in Merriam-Webster).^[8][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The English took the style from France.^[4] In printing the word passed from the border to the picture itself (by 1830),^[4][8] and then to a picture or portrait whose edges shade off into the background without a definite border.^[2][5][7] About 1853 it was applied to a popular kind of small photographic portrait of the head and shoulders with blurred edges.^[4][3][8] The literary sense, a short descriptive sketch or episode, is recorded by 1880, probably extended from the photographic one.^[4][3][8][7] The verb, to finish a picture in vignette style, dates from 1853.^[8][5]

Timeline

• before 1420 – vinette, a trailing vine ornament.^[3]
• 1751 – a decorative design in a book.^[8][3][4]
• 1830 – a picture in a manuscript or book.^[8][4]
• 1853 – verb; a photographic portrait with soft edges.^[8][3][4]
• 1880 – a short literary sketch.^[8][3][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A decorative design or small illustration placed at the beginning or end of a book or chapter, or along the border of a page.
2. A picture or photograph that shades off gradually into the surrounding background at the edges.
3. A short, usually descriptive literary sketch, or a brief scene or episode, as in a film.
4. The pictorial part of a postage stamp.

Verb

1. To finish a picture or photograph by softening its edges in vignette style.
2. To describe briefly.

Word family

• vignettist
• vignetter

Related words

• vine
• vineyard
• vinegar
• cameo

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press