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vignette

1. A running ornament consisting of leaves and tendrils, used in Gothic architecture.

2. 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; hence, by extension, any small 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 make, as an engraving or a photograph, with a border or edge insensibly fading away.