1. vignette - Noun
2. vignette - Verb
A running ornament consisting of leaves and tendrils, used in Gothic architecture.
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.
To make, as an engraving or a photograph, with a border or edge insensibly fading away.
Source: Webster's dictionary1862 $10 CSA note depicting a vignette of Hope flanked by R.M.T. Hunter (left) and C.G. Memminger (right). Source: Internet
Another simple, strong, and sweet vignette for Kiera Hogan. Source: Internet
A quick ad vignette aired to introduce viewers to the Welsh duo of Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster. Source: Internet
A scene inset inside a circular vignette showing a “dream vision” in Santa Claus (1899). Source: Internet
Craig (2009), p. 30-68 The whipped woman from an earlier vignette appears alone in an autoerotic session. Source: Internet
But to the Protestants it seemed far from thorough; Martin Luther had his edition (1538) prefaced with a vignette showing the cardinals cleaning the Augean stable of the Roman Church with foxtails instead of brooms. Source: Internet