1650s, "a drawing of the outline of anything," from older Italian profilo "a drawing in outline," from profilare "to draw in outline," from pro "forth" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward") + filare "draw out, spin," from Late Latin filare "to spin, draw out a line," from filum "thread" (from PIE root *gwhi- "thread, tendon"). Meaning "a side view" is from 1660s. Meaning "biographical sketch, character study" is from 1734.
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