vignette

Etymology

First attested in 1751. From French vignette, diminutive of vigne (“vine”), from Latin vīnea, from vīnum (“wine”). Replaced earlier Middle English vynet.

noun

1. (architecture) A running ornament consisting of leaves and tendrils, used in Gothic architecture.
2. (printing) A decorative design, originally representing vine branches or tendrils, at the head of a chapter, of a manuscript or printed book, or in a similar position.
   The centrality of this particular trope can been seen in the vignette adorning the opening page of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert's Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonnée des sciences, des arts et des métiers (1751–1752). 2011, William Burgwinkle, Nicholas Hammond, Emma Wilson, The Cambridge History of French Literature, Cambridge University Press, page 420
3. (by extension) Any small borderless picture in a book, especially an engraving, photograph, or the like, which vanishes gradually at the edge.
4. (by extension) A short story or anecdote that presents a scene or tableau, or paints a picture.
   A particular classroom incident, and the vignette I used to portray it, had a significant impact on the interpretative framework for my research into scientific literacy. 2007, Peter Charles Taylor, John Wallace, Contemporary Qualitative Research, Springer Science & Business Media, page 126
   I have two favourite vignettes from the voting lobbies on Wednesday night. The first is the news that one minister told the Tory chief whip, Julian Smith: “You don’t know what you’re doing,” to which Smith replied, “I do know what I’m doing”. 2019-03-01, Marina Hyde, “Chris Grayling is the Berk du Soleil as Farage maps out a road to nowhere”, in The Guardian
5. (philately) The central pictorial image on a postage stamp.
   At the top of the stamp and centered slightly to the right is the wording, “U. S. Postage,” in white Gothic. Below the vignette are the words, “Little White House,” in quotations, with “Warm Springs,” centered directly below in dark Gothic, […] 1967, Postage Stamps of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office
6. (photography) The characteristic of a camera lens, either by deficiency in design or by mismatch of the lens with the film format, that produces an image smaller than the film's frame with a crudely focused border. Photographers may deliberately choose this characteristic for a special effect.
7. (photography) Any effect in a photographic picture where qualities vanish towards the edges.
8. (computer graphics) A hardware deficiency (even occurring in most expensive models) of a computer display wherein the picture slants towards a colour or brightness towards the edges especially if viewed from an angle.
9. (automotive) A small sticker affixed to a vehicle windscreen to indicate that tolls have been paid.
   In order to drive on Bulgarian roads outside Sofia you'll need to purchase a vignette which must be displayed in the windscreen. 2008, Sofia In Your Pocket, In Your Pocket, page 7

verb

1. To make, as an engraving or a photograph, with a border or edge gradually fading away.
   Long minutes afterwards the sun disclosed itself, high above the earth's rim, over a vignetted bank of edgeless mist. 1922, T. E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Book Five, Chapter 68
   Along the wainscot lie heaps of bolsters and quilts, covered with old-fashioned chintzes. Before the War these chintzes were specially made in Russia for the Central Asian market: one bolster depicts steamships, early motor-cars, and the first aeroplane, vignetted in circles of flowers on a vermilion background. 1937, Robert Byron, “Saoma”, in The Road to Oxiana