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" (see pro-) + filare "draw out, spin," from Late Latin filare "to spin, draw out a line," from filum "thread" (see file, v.1). Meaning "a side view" is from 1660s. Meaning "biographical sketch, character study" is from 1734.

1715, "to represent in profile," from profile, n. or Italian profilare. Meaning "to summarize a person in writing" is from 1948. Related: Profiled; profiling.