Scene

How to spell scene

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce scene

What does scene mean?

1. nounThe place where an event happens, or a particular view, setting, or section of a play or film.
2. nounA public display of strong emotion or a noisy, embarrassing fuss.

Scene in a sentence

• Police arrived at the scene of the accident within minutes.

• He was furious about the bill but did not want to make a scene in the restaurant.

• The opening scene of the film is set on a crowded train.

• Her tearful scene at the meeting left everyone uncomfortable.

Where does scene come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word travelled into English from the Latin scena, which in turn was borrowed from the Greek skene, a word that literally meant a tent, hut, or wooden booth. In the ancient Greek theatre, the skene was the structure at the back of the stage where actors changed costume and behind which action could take place, so the word came to stand for the stage itself and then for everything presented on it. Latin reshaped it as scena, and English took it up in the sixteenth century by way of French, first meaning a subdivision of a play and later widening to any place where something happens or any view before the eyes. The trap in the spelling is the opening 'sc' followed by the 'ene' ending, a clue to its Greek and Latin pedigree rather than the plain 's' of its homophone 'seen'. The same skene root survives in 'scenery' and 'proscenium', the arch that frames a traditional stage.

How the word is built

• scen- (from Latin scena/Greek skene: stage, theatrical booth)
• -e (silent final letter)

Words that sound like scene

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• seen: The past participle of 'see'; perceived with the eyes or witnessed, used with has, have, or had.