English
scene
Scene comes from Middle French scene, from Latin scaena ‘stage’, from Ancient Greek σκηνή ‘tent, stage’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ḱeh₃-‘shade, shadow’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκηνήskēnḗ‘tent; stage’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscaena‘stage, scene’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600scene
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scene
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1602scene
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ḱeh₃-‘shade, shadow’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκηνήskēnḗ‘tent; stage’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscaena‘stage, scene’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600scene
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scene
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1602scene
Earliest quotation: c. 1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida: “In Troy, there lies the scene.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- ‘shade, shadow’
shame, shadow, shade, squirrel, obscure, scotia, hoar, 31 more
through Ancient Greek σκηνή ‘scene, stage’
Today it means
noun The location of an event that attracts attention.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- / scene