English
scena
Scena comes from Italian scena ‘scene’, and goes back to Ancient Greek σκηνή ‘tent, tabernacle’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκηνή‘tent, tabernacle’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscēna
- Italianc. 1300–presentscena‘scene’
- Englishearliest quotation 1886same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκηνή‘tent, tabernacle’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscēna
- Italianc. 1300–presentscena‘scene’
- Englishearliest quotation 1886same form
Earliest quotation: 1886, William Smith Rockstro: “Few Contralto singers are unacquainted with the beautiful Scena,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- ‘shade, shadow’
shame, shadow, shade, squirrel, obscure, scotia, hoar, 31 more
through Ancient Greek σκηνή ‘tent, tabernacle’
Today it means
noun A scene in an opera.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek σκηνή / scena