“profile” – English explanatory dictionary

noun 1. a view of someone’s head, seen from the side ○ a photograph showing her in profile 2. □ to keep or maintain a low profile to be quiet, not to be obvious ○ It would be better if you kept a low profile until all the fuss has died down. □ to keep or maintain a high profile to keep yourself in the view of the public ○ A politician needs to keep a high profile. ○ Advertising helps to maintain the company’s high profile. 3. a short biography of a famous person in a newspaper ○ There’s a profile of the Chancellor in the Sunday paper.

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. Profile paper (Civil Engin.), paper ruled with vertical and horizontal lines forming small oblong rectangles, adapted for drawing profiles.

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.