scheme en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /skiːm/
Etymology
From late Middle English scheame, from Medieval Latin schēma (“figure, form”), from Ancient Greek σχῆμα (skhêma, “form, shape”), from ἔχω (ékhō, “to hold”). Doublet of schema. Compare sketch.
Meanings
- (obsolete, rhetoric) An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words.
-
A representation of the aspects of the celestial bodies for any moment or at a given event.
a blue case, from which was drawn a scheme of nativity
1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
-
A systematic plan of future action.
There are schemes to transfer electrical energy from braking trains into local power grids, and even more radical plans for “moving platforms” that dock with high-speed trains. […] A “moving platform” scheme proposed by Priestmangoode 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 […].
2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):The stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.
c. 1713, Jonathan Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects:Such [rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.
2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2023:Originally the opening had doubtless marked the projection of another road, but the scheme had come to nothing.
1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:
-
A plot or secret, devious plan.
Her brain is continually fermenting new schemes.
-
An orderly combination of related parts.
such a scheme of things as shall at once take in time and eternity
1706, Francis Atterbury, A Sermon Preach'd in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul; at the Funeral of My. Tho. Bennett:arguments […] sufficient to support and demonstrate a whole scheme of moral philosophy
1754, Jonathan Edwards, The Freedom of the Will:the appearance and outward scheme of things
1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:The Revolution came and changed his whole scheme of life.
1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XX, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
-
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
- 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).
-
(Scotland, UK, colloquial) A council housing estate.
“You can’t really say to the kids in the schemes [Scottish council estates]^([sic]): don’t do drugs, they’ll wreck your life, you’ll never get a job or a house or buy nice things.”
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:It was all too dear. They all just put their prices up because it was out in the scheme.
2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 101:
- (Internet) Part of a uniform resource identifier indicating the protocol or other purpose, such as http: or news:.
- (UK, qualifier:pensions) A portfolio of pension plans with related benefits comprising multiple independent members.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| schemes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
scheme theory · grand scheme of things · schemie · schemer · schemester · schematization · scheme of studies · scheme arch · scheme of things
Descendants
Hyponyms
classification scheme · axiom scheme · Ponzi scheme · Mississippi Scheme · pyramid scheme · pilot scheme · rhyme scheme · group scheme · Horner's scheme · collective investment scheme · colour scheme · lift scheme · grand scheme
Synonyms
scheme · device · chart · plan · plot · graphic · plot · design · intrigue · project · proposal · plot · machination · estate · design · plan · blueprint · scheme · schematic · graph · schematic · diagram · project · conspiracy · map · blueprint
Translations (145)
ca esquema (orderly combination of related parts) · nl plan (systematic plan of future action) · sv ränker (secret, devious plan) · oc plan (systematic plan of future action) · de Bild (chart or diagram) · is brugg (secret, devious plan) · oc intriga (secret, devious plan) · es treta (secret, devious plan) · got 𐌻𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (secret, devious plan) · es esquema (chart or diagram) · ar مَكِيدَة (secret, devious plan) · it schema (orderly combination of related parts) · hu konstrukció (systematic plan of future action) · pl schemat (systematic plan of future action) · hu táblázat (chart or diagram) · zu isu (systematic plan of future action) · it macchinazione (secret, devious plan) · ja 陰謀 (secret, devious plan) · he מְזִמָּה (secret, devious plan) · ru програ́мма (systematic plan of future action) · hu csel (secret, devious plan) · es urdimbre (secret, devious plan) · pl plan (systematic plan of future action) · hu kombináció (orderly combination of related parts) · it piano (systematic plan of future action) · es artimaña (secret, devious plan) · ca parany (secret, devious plan) · el σχεδιάγραμμα (chart or diagram) · pl program (systematic plan of future action) · fi rakenne (orderly combination of related parts) · ms skema (chart or diagram) · ru схе́ма (chart or diagram) · eo intrigo (systematic plan of future action) · he מְזִמָּה (systematic plan of future action) · hu rajz (chart or diagram) · fr combine (secret, devious plan) · he מבנה (orderly combination of related parts) · ca artifici (secret, devious plan) · hu séma (mathematics: structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety) · el σχέδιο (systematic plan of future action) · ota فساد (secret, devious plan) · de Übersicht (chart or diagram) · de Programm (systematic plan of future action) · gl esquema (systematic plan of future action) · nl schema (mathematics: structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety) · de Intrige (secret, devious plan) · el μηχανορραφία (secret, devious plan) · hu eljárás (systematic plan of future action) · el σκευωρία (secret, devious plan) · cmn 計劃 /计划 (systematic plan of future action) · is ráð (systematic plan of future action) · ru схе́ма (mathematics: structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety) · ja 表 (chart or diagram) · fi suunnitelma (systematic plan of future action) · de Schema (orderly combination of related parts) · it progetto (systematic plan of future action) · it schema (chart or diagram) · pt esquema (mathematics: structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety) · cs schéma (chart or diagram) · ru структу́ра (orderly combination of related parts) · pt esquema (chart or diagram) · ja 概型 (mathematics: structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety) · it stratagemma (secret, devious plan) · ca pla (systematic plan of future action) · hu rendszer (systematic plan of future action) · ru за́мысел (secret, devious plan) · hu ábra (chart or diagram) · ja 案 (systematic plan of future action) · it schema (systematic plan of future action) · pl intryga (secret, devious plan) · de Scharade (secret, devious plan) · bg схема (orderly combination of related parts) · ja 計画 (systematic plan of future action) · hu összeállítás (orderly combination of related parts) · fr schéma (mathematics: structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety) · bg интрига (secret, devious plan) · fr schéma (chart or diagram) · pt esquema (systematic plan of future action) · fi kunnan vuokratalo (council housing estate) · it programma (systematic plan of future action) · oc esquèma (systematic plan of future action) · fi kaavio (chart or diagram) · hu kép (chart or diagram) · de Projekt (systematic plan of future action) · fi rakennelma (orderly combination of related parts) · cmn 陰謀 /阴谋 (secret, devious plan) · jv upaya (systematic plan of future action) · ota فتنه (secret, devious plan) · oc maquinacion (secret, devious plan) · de Schema (chart or diagram) · ja 図表 (chart or diagram) · zu icebo (systematic plan of future action) · ja 構成 (orderly combination of related parts) · hu tervrajz (chart or diagram) · ru план (systematic plan of future action) · hu rend (orderly combination of related parts) · is ráðagerð (systematic plan of future action) · fr schéma (orderly combination of related parts) · bg план (systematic plan of future action) · it intrigo (secret, devious plan) · fi tähtikartta (astrology: representation of the aspects of the celestial bodies) · hu elrendezés (orderly combination of related parts) · ja 体系 (orderly combination of related parts) · as আঁচনি (systematic plan of future action) · fi järjestelmä (mathematics: structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety) · hu terv (systematic plan of future action) · el συνδυασμός (orderly combination of related parts) · hu program (systematic plan of future action) · fr machination (secret, devious plan) · ca esquema (systematic plan of future action) · fr plan (systematic plan of future action) · ja 計略 (secret, devious plan) · cs plán (systematic plan of future action) · el πλεκτάνη (secret, devious plan) · bg диаграма (chart or diagram) · enm compassement (secret, devious plan) · pt esquema (orderly combination of related parts) · de Plan (systematic plan of future action) · fi ohje (systematic plan of future action) · el πλάνο (systematic plan of future action) · es esquema (orderly combination of related parts) · ja 企画 (systematic plan of future action) · ru план (secret, devious plan) · mi aronui (internet: part of a uniform resource identifier that indicates purpose) · eo skemo (chart or diagram) · de Komplott (secret, devious plan) · eu azerikeria (systematic plan of future action) · he תרשים (chart or diagram) · ca estratagema (secret, devious plan) · ja 枠組み (systematic plan of future action) · hu fortély (secret, devious plan) · ca esquema (chart or diagram) · fi juoni (secret, devious plan) · ca ardit (secret, devious plan) · ja 計画 (systematic plan of future action) · es ardid (secret, devious plan) · hu cselszövés (secret, devious plan) · bg проект (systematic plan of future action) · ja 図 (chart or diagram) · pt planejamento (systematic plan of future action) · ca esquema (mathematics: structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety) · he סכימה (mathematics: structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety) · fi skeema (internet: part of a uniform resource identifier that indicates purpose) · cmn 概形 (mathematics: structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety) · pt esquema (secret, devious plan)