Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·French ·1790s
Silhouette
from silhouette
- Meaning
- An outline or solid black shape of a person or object.
- Source word
- silhouette
- Route into English
- Named for Étienne de Silhouette, Louis XV's finance minister in 1759, whose austerity measures made his name synonymous with anything cheap and reductive. The portrait style — cheap to make — took his name. English borrowed it early.
- Arrived
- 1790s
From French
Beyond the Norman conquest's Old French foundation, English kept borrowing from French for art, cuisine, fashion, and diplomacy throughout the modern period.
English borrows.
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