silhouette
sil-oo-ET · noun
Origin
The word is an unadapted borrowing from French silhouette, taken from the surname of Étienne de Silhouette, France's Controller-General of Finances in 1759. His name traces back to Basque Ziloeta or Zilhoeta, from zulo ("hole, pit"), itself from Proto-Basque *zuLo.
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Journey
It's been suggested the word caught on either because of de Silhouette's penny-pinching policies (mocked as 'à la Silhouette,' meaning austere or cheap, like a shape filled only with black), his brief eight-month term, or the outline portraits he made to decorate his château.
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From French