scheme

See also: Scheme and schème

English

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. [16th–17th c.]
2. (astrology) A representation of the aspects of the celestial bodies for any moment or at a given event. [from 17th c.]
3. A systematic plan of future action. [from 18th c.]
   • 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^[1], 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.
   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:

     the appearance and outward scheme of things

   • 1706, Francis Atterbury, A Sermon Preach'd in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul; at the Funeral of My. Tho. Bennett:

     such a scheme of things as shall at once take in time and eternity

   • 1754, Jonathan Edwards, The Freedom of the Will:

     arguments […] sufficient to support and demonstrate a whole scheme of moral philosophy

   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 20, 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:

     The Revolution came and changed his whole scheme of life.

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 enlarges the notion of algebraic variety in several ways, such as taking account of multiplicities and allowing "varieties" defined over any commutative ring (e.g. Fermat curves over the integers).
8. (UK, chiefly Scotland, colloquial) A council housing estate. [from 20th c.]
   • 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.

   • 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:

     a blue case, from which was drawn a scheme of nativity

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

• colour scheme
• pilot scheme
• schematization
• schemie

Descendants

• → Irish: scéim
• → Malay: skim

Translations

astrology: representation of the aspects of the celestial bodies

• Finnish: tähtikartta

systematic plan of future action

• Assamese: আঁচনি (ãsoni)
• Basque: azerikeria
• Bulgarian: план (bg) m (plan), проект (bg) m (proekt)
• Catalan: esquema (ca) m, pla (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 計劃／计划 (zh) (jìhuà)

• Czech: plán (cs) m
• Dutch: plan (nl)
• Finnish: suunnitelma (fi), ohje (fi)
• French: plan (fr) m
• Galician: esquema m
• German: Programm (de) n, Plan (de) m, Projekt (de) n
• Greek: σχέδιο (el) n (schédio), πλάνο (el) n (pláno)
• Hebrew: מְזִמָּה‎ (he) f (mezimá)
• Hungarian: program (hu), konstrukció (hu), rendszer (hu), eljárás (hu), terv (hu)
• Icelandic: ráð (is) n, ráðagerð f
• Italian: schema (it) m, piano (it) m, progetto (it) m, programma (it) m
• Japanese: 計画 (ja) (けいかく, kēkaku), 企画 (ja) (きかく, kikaku), 案 (ja) (あん, an), 計画 (ja) (スキーム, sukīmu), (framework scheme) 枠組み (わくぐみ, wakugumi)
• Javanese: upaya
• Occitan: plan (oc) m, esquèma (oc) m
• Polish: plan (pl) m, program (pl) m, schemat (pl) m
• Portuguese: planejamento (pt) m, esquema (pt) m
• Russian: план (ru) m (plan), програ́мма (ru) f (prográmma)
• Spanish: régimen (es) m, proyecto (es) m
• Zulu: icebo (zu) class 5/6, isu class 5/6

secret, devious plan

• Arabic: مَكِيدَة‎ (ar) f (makīda)
• Bulgarian: интрига (bg) f (intriga)
• Catalan: artifici (ca) m, ardit (ca) m, parany (ca) m, estratagema (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 陰謀／阴谋 (zh) (yīnmóu)

• Finnish: juoni (fi)
• French: combine (fr) f, machination (fr) f
• German: Intrige (de) f, Komplott (de) n, Scharade (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌻𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 f (lists)
• Greek: σκευωρία (el) f (skevoría), μηχανορραφία (el) f (michanorrafía), πλεκτάνη (el) f (plektáni)
• Hebrew: מְזִמָּה‎ (he) f (mezimá)
• Hungarian: csel (hu), cselszövés (hu), fortély (hu)
• Icelandic: brugg (is) n
• Italian: macchinazione (it) f, stratagemma (it) m, intrigo (it) m
• Japanese: 陰謀 (ja) (いんぼう, inbō), 計略 (ja) (けいりゃく, kēryaku)
• Middle English: compassement
• Occitan: maquinacion f, intriga (oc) f
• Polish: intryga (pl) f
• Portuguese: esquema (pt) m
• Russian: план (ru) m (plan), за́мысел (ru) m (zámysel)
• Spanish: ardid (es) m, artimaña (es) f, maquinación (es) f, estratagema (es) f, treta (es) f, intriga (es) f, urdimbre (es)
• Swedish: ränker (sv) c pl

orderly combination of related parts

• Bulgarian: схема (bg) f (shema)
• Catalan: esquema (ca) m
• Finnish: rakenne (fi), rakenelma
• French: schéma (fr) m
• German: Schema (de) n
• Greek: συνδυασμός (el) m (syndyasmós)
• Hebrew: מבנה‎ (he) m (mivné)
• Hungarian: elrendezés (hu), összeállítás (hu), kombináció (hu), rend (hu)
• Italian: schema (it) m
• Japanese: 体系 (ja) (たいけい, taikē), 構成 (ja) (こうせい, kōsē)
• Portuguese: esquema (pt) m
• Russian: структу́ра (ru) f (struktúra)
• Spanish: esquema (es) m

chart or diagram

• Bulgarian: диаграма (bg) f (diagrama)
• Catalan: esquema (ca) m
• Czech: schéma (cs) n
• Esperanto: skemo
• Finnish: kaavio (fi)
• French: schéma (fr) m
• German: Übersicht (de) f, Schema (de) n, Bild (de) n
• Greek: σχεδιάγραμμα (el) n (schediágramma)
• Hebrew: תרשים‎ m (tarshím)
• Hungarian: ábra (hu), táblázat (hu), rajz (hu), tervrajz (hu), kép (hu)
• Italian: schema (it)
• Japanese: (chart) 表 (ja) (ひょう, hyō), (diagram) 図 (ja) (ず, zu), (chart and diagram) 図表 (ja) (ずひょう, zuhyō)
• Malay: skema
• Portuguese: esquema (pt) m
• Russian: схе́ма (ru) f (sxéma)
• Spanish: esquema (es) m

mathematics: structure that enlarges he notion of algebraic variety

• Catalan: esquema (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 概形 (zh) (gàixíng)

• Dutch: schema (nl)
• Finnish: järjestelmä (fi)
• French: schéma (fr) m
• Hebrew: סכימה‎ f (sχéma)
• Hungarian: séma (hu)
• Japanese: 概型 (がいけい, gaikē)
• Portuguese: esquema (pt) m
• Russian: схе́ма (ru) f (sxéma)

council housing estate

• Finnish: kunnan vuokratalo

internet: part of a uniform resource identifier that indicates purpose

• Finnish: skeema (fi)
• Maori: aronui

pensions: portfolio of pension plans with related benefits

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

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} مُخَطَّط‎ m (muḵaṭṭaṭ)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} schema (nl) n, ^{(please verify)} programma (nl) n
• French: ^{(please verify)} système (fr) m, ^{(please verify)} schéma (fr) m
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} schema (it) m
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 계획 (ko) (gyehoek)
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 方案 (zh) (fāng àn)
• Serbo-Croatian: (1,2) ^{(please verify)} plan (sh) m, (3,4) ^{(please verify)} shema (sh) f
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} esquema (es) m
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} schema (sv) n

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^[2]:

     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

to contrive a plan

• Bulgarian: планирам (bg) (planiram), проектирам (bg) (proektiram)
• Catalan: maquinar (ca), tramar (ca), ordir (ca), conspirar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 密謀／密谋 (zh) (mìmóu), 陰謀／阴谋 (zh) (yīnmóu)

• Cornish: devisya
• Finnish: juonitella (fi), kieroilla, suunnitella (fi), vehkeillä
• French: conspirer (fr), tramer (fr)
• German: etwas aushecken, intrigieren (de)
• Greek: απεργάζομαι (el) (apergázomai), εξυφαίνω (el) (exyfaíno), σχεδιάζω (el) (schediázo), σκευωρώ (el) (skevoró), συνωμοτώ (el) (synomotó)
• Hungarian: mesterkedik (hu), ármánykodik (hu), cselt sző
• Japanese: 計画する (ja) (けいかくする, kēkaku suru)
• Latin: contechnor
• Middle English: ymagynen, compassen
• Russian: плани́ровать (ru) impf (planírovatʹ); замы́слить (ru) pf (zamýslitʹ), замышля́ть (ru) impf (zamyšljátʹ)
• Spanish: maquinar (es), tramar (es), urdir (es)
• Swedish: smida ränker

References

• “scheme, n.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2022.
• Silva Rhetoricae

Anagrams

• Meches

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃeːmə/

Verb

scheme

1. (reflexive) to be ashamed

   Schemst-du dich net?

   Aren't you ashamed?

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

Derived from English scheme.

Noun

scheme (plural scheme dem or schemes dem, quantified scheme)

1. housing scheme; council estate; a housing project; neighbourhood.

   2007 October 1, “My Scheme”, in Riddim Driven: Shadowz (2008)‎^[3], 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

• Stem vowel: ē¹
  • (originally) IPA^(key): /skɪəmə/

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

• sceme