silhouette - In art, Military usage, In graphic design

A technique of paper cut-out picture popularized by French finance minister Etienne de Silhouette (1709–67) and used for cheap miniature portraits until the rise of photography in the mid-19th-c. The term is often extended to cover any type of dark image against a light background, or light on dark, as in Greek vase-painting.

A silhouette is a view of an object or scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior.

In art

A silhouette is a form of artwork.

Silhouette portraits were fashionable around the year 1800.

Military usage

Silhouettes of ships, planes, tanks, and other vessels used by the military are used by soldiers and saliors for recognition purposes.

In graphic design

To silhouette is to separate (mask) a portion of an image so that it does not show.