Pro"file (?), n. [It. profilo, fr. L. pro before + filum a thread, an outline, shape: cf. F. profil. See File arow, and cf. Purfle, Purl, a fringe.]
1.
An outline, or contour; as, the profile of an apple.
2. Paint & Sculp.
A human head represented sidewise, or in a side view; the side face or half face.
3. (a) Arch.
A section of any member, made at right angles with its main lines, showing the exact shape of moldings and the like.
(b) Civil Engin.
A drawing exhibiting a vertical section of the ground along a surveyed line, or graded work, as of a railway, showing elevations, depressions, grades, etc.
<-- 4. a short biography.
5. [NW10] a set of data, often in graphical form, describing some significant features of something (e.g. a person, corporation); esp. a graph showing the results of tests ot some attribute of a person.
6. public notice, used esp. in the phrase "(keep/maintain) a low profile", i.e. avoid public notice, avoid publicity. -->
Profile paper Civil Engin., paper ruled with vertical and horizontal lines forming small oblong rectangles, adapted for drawing profiles.<-- = graph paper? -->
© Webster 1913.
Pro"file, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Profiled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Profiling] [Cf. F. profiler, It. profilare. See Profile, n.]
1.
to draw the outline of; to draw in profile, as an architectural member.
2. Mech.
To shape the outline of an object by passing a cutter around it.
Profiling machine, a jigging machine.
© Webster 1913.