Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “silhouette” come from?

Silhouette comes from French silhouette, named after Étienne de Silhouette, an 18th-century French politician and author.

silhouette (English): An illustrated outline filled in with a solid...

Definitions

  1. An illustrated outline filled in with a solid...

Ancestry of “silhouette”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1FrenchSilhouette—
2BasqueZiloeta—
3Basquezulohole; pit; den, hiding place
4Proto-Basque*zuLo—

Words derived from “silhouette”

  • silhouettist
Every word from Proto-Basque *zuLo →