Scenic

How to spell scenic

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce scenic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does scenic mean?

1. adjectiveOffering attractive natural views, or relating to a view or landscape.

Scenic in a sentence

• The coastal road follows a scenic route past the cliffs.

• We booked a cabin in a scenic valley for the weekend.

Where does scenic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This adjective traces back through 'scene' to the Latin scaena and its Greek source skene, which originally meant the wooden hut or stage building behind which actors changed and from which painted backdrops were hung. Because that structure carried the painted scenery of a play, the word came to mean a stage setting and then any view or prospect. By the late 1700s English had formed 'scenic' to describe things relating to the stage, and within a few decades the sense had broadened to mean offering pleasing natural views. The 'sc' opening is the spelling trap, since the 's' sound is soft and the 'c' stays silent; it survives from the Latin scaena even though English speakers no longer hear it. The same Greek skene also gave us 'scenery' and the proscenium arch of a theatre.

How the word is built

• scen- (from scene, a view or stage)
• -ic (adjective suffix: relating to)