vignette

plural vignettes

1. architectureA running ornament consisting of leaves and tendrils, used in Gothic architecture.
2. mediaA 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, →ISBN, page 420

3. broadlyAny small borderless picture in a book, especially an engraving, photograph, or the like, which vanishes gradually at the edge.
4. broadlyA 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, →ISBN, page 126

   1 more example

   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 March 1, Marina Hyde, “Chris Grayling is the Berk du Soleil as Farage maps out a road to nowhere”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: account, anecdote, depiction, portrayal, representation

5. hobbiesThe 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. artsThe 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. artsAny effect in a photographic picture where qualities vanish towards the edges.

   Liz Brent, broker at Go Brent in Maryland and Washington, DC, said she’s spent the past few months changing how she presents properties by emphasizing photographs, 3-D tours, and video vignettes for homes online.

   2020 June 12, Anna Bahney, “The new rules of buying and selling a house in a coronavirus world”, in CNN Business

8. computer graphicsA 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. automotiveA 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, →ISBN, page 7

present singular third person vignettes · participle present vignetting · participle past vignetted · past vignetted

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

   1 more example

   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