scheme

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See also: Scheme and schème

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin schēma (“figure, form”), from Ancient Greek σχῆμα (skhêma, “form, shape”), from ἔχω (ékhō, “I hold”). Doublet of schema. Compare sketch.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /skiːm/
  • Rhymes: -iːm
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

scheme (plural schemes)

  1. (rhetoric, obsolete) An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words.
  2. (astrology) A representation of the aspects of the celestial bodies for any moment or at a given event.
  3. A systematic plan of future action.
    • c. 1713, Jonathan Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects:
      The stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.
    • 2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist‎, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):
      A “moving platform” scheme […] is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. This set-up solves several problems […].
  4. A plot or secret, devious plan.
  5. An orderly combination of related parts.
  6. A chart or diagram of a system or object.
    • April 29, 1694, Robert South, A Sermon Preached at Westminster Abbey
      to draw an exact scheme of Constantinople, or a map of France
  7. (mathematics) A mathematical structure that generalizes the notion of an algebraic variety in several ways, such as taking account of multiplicities and allowing "varieties" defined over any commutative ring. Formally, a locally ringed space that admits a covering by open sets, each of which is isomorphic to an affine scheme (i.e. the spectrum of some commutative ring).
  8. (UK, chiefly Scotland, colloquial) A council housing estate.
    • 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 101:
      It was all too dear. They all just put their prices up because it was out in the scheme.
    • 2023 July 2, David Barnett, quoting Irvine Welsh, “‘Choose drugs?’ 30 years after he wrote Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh says life is tougher now”, in The Observer‎, →ISSN:
      “You can’t really say to the kids in the schemes [Scottish council estates]: don’t do drugs, they’ll wreck your life, you’ll never get a job or a house or buy nice things.”
  9. (Internet) Part of a uniform resource identifier indicating the protocol or other purpose, such as http: or news:.
  10. (UK, pensions) A portfolio of pension plans with related benefits comprising multiple independent members.

Usage notes

In the US, generally has devious connotations, while in the UK, frequently used as a neutral term for projects: “The road is closed due to a pavement-widening scheme.”

Synonyms

  • (a systematic plan of future action): blueprint

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Irish: scéim
  • → Malay: skim

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

scheme (third-person singular simple present schemes, present participle scheming, simple past and past participle schemed)

  1. (intransitive) To plot, or contrive a plan.
    • 2012 April 26, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits”, in The Onion AV Club‎:
      The openly ridiculous plot has The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) scheming to win the Pirate Of The Year competition, even though he’s a terrible pirate, far outclassed by rivals voiced by Jeremy Piven and Salma Hayek.
  2. (transitive) To plan; to contrive.
    • 1908, Bohemian Magazine, volume 15, page 381:
      He schemed a plot. He made use of the hotel's stationery to write a letter.

Translations

References

Anagrams

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

Verb

scheme

  1. (reflexive) to be ashamed
    Schemst-du dich net?
    Aren't you ashamed?

Further reading

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

Derived from English scheme.

Noun

scheme (plural scheme dem, quantified scheme)

  1. housing scheme; council estate; a housing project; neighbourhood.
    • 2007 October, “My Scheme” (track 2), in Riddim Driven: Shadowz (2008)‎, performed by Vybz Kartel:
      Foreigners if unno neva know ask di tourist board 'bout my scheme
      Foreigners, if you don't know then ask the tourist board about my neighbourhood.

Middle Low German

Etymology

From Old Saxon skimo (“shadow”). Originally masculine.

Pronunciation

Noun

scheme m or f

  1. A shadow, a shade; a darkness created by an object obstructing light
  2. A shadow, a shade; something which is barely perceptible or not physical
    ...lose se van der walt der dusternisse unde van deme scheme des dodes. (" ...free them from the power of darkness and the shadow of death." )
  3. A shimmer; a soft or weak occurrence of light
  4. twilight; the lighting conditions at dusk and dawn
  5. A face mask
  6. aureola

Alternative forms

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia