profile
Pronunciation: /ˈprəʊfʌɪl/
noun
- 1an outline of something, especially a person’s face, as seen from one side: the man turned and she caught his profile
- a vertical cross section of a structure: skilfully made vessels with an S-shaped profile
- Geography an outline of part of the earth’s surface, e.g. the course of a river, as seen in a vertical section: in soft rocks a profile drawn normally to the beach would show a concave form comparable with the long profile of a river
- a flat outline piece of scenery on stage.
- 2a short article giving a description of a person or organization: a profile of a Texas tycoon
- (on a social networking website) a user’s summary of their personal details or current situation: he posted the pictures on his Facebook profile
- 3
- 4a graphical or other representation of information relating to particular characteristics of something, recorded in quantified form: a sleep profile for someone on a shift system
- a record of a person’s psychological or behavioural characteristics, preferences, etc.: they had been using personal details to build customer profiles
verb
- 2represent in outline from one side: he was standing motionless, profiled on the far side of the swimming pool
- (be profiled) have a specified shape in outline: a proud bird profiled like a phoenix
- shape (something), especially by means of a tool guided by a template: (as adjective profiled) profiled and plain tiles
Origin:
mid 17th century: from obsolete Italian profilo, from the verb profilare, from pro- 'forth' + filare 'to spin', formerly 'draw a line' (from Latin filare, from filum 'thread')