1. A
running ornament consisting of leaves and tendrils, used in Gothic architecture.
2. A decorative design, originally representing
vine divisions or tendrils, at the
head of a chapter, of a manuscript or printed book, or in a
similar position; hence, by extension, any
little picture in a book; hence, also, as such pictures are often
without a
definite bounding line, any picture, as an engraving, a photograph, or the like, which vanishes gradually at the edge.
Origin: F. Vignette, fr. Vigne a vine. See Vine, and cf. Vinette.
To create, as an
engraving or a photograph, with a
border or
edge insensibly fading away.
Source: Websters Vocabulary