Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
VIGNETTE
I. noun see: vine
Date: 1611
a running ornament (as of vine leaves, tendrils, and grapes) put on or just before a title page or at the beginning or end of a chapter,
2. a picture (as an engraving or photograph) that shades off gradually into the surrounding paper, the pictorial part of a postage stamp design as distinguished from the frame and lettering,
3. a short descriptive literary sketch, a brief incident or scene (as in a play or movie), vignettist noun
II. transitive verb (vignetted; vignetting)
Date: 1853
to finish (as a photograph) like a vignette, to describe briefly, vignetter noun