Etymologically
Log in

Szene

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 19:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈst͡seːnə/, /ˈseːnə/[1]
  • Variant: /ˈt͡seːnə/[1]

Forms

Szene f (genitive Szene, plural Szenen)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin scēna, scaena (“stage, scene of action”), borrowed probably under the influence of French scène.[2][3][4] The Latin noun comes from Ancient Greek σκηνή (skēnḗ), which first meant a tent or hut and then the stage of a theatre.[2][4][5] Kluge dates the borrowing to the 18th century, but Pfeifer, Duden, the DFWB and Paul find it in the first half of the 16th century, and until the 18th century it was often written in its Latin form with Latin endings.[2][4][3][6][7] The sense “milieu” was taken from English scene.[2][4] The same word is Dutch scène and Swedish scen.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record, from 1533, uses the Latin accusative scenam for the stage of a play.[6][7] A dictionary of 1579 explains scenae as the huts of those who take part in a play.[6]

Semantic evolution

The sense “single section of a play, appearance on stage” is found now and then from the mid-16th century and becomes common from the mid-18th century, when the word was also used for any event or picturesque view, as in Schiller's line die Scene wird zum Tribunal “the scene becomes a tribunal”.[4][7] From the early 19th century Szene also meant a quarrel or reproaches, as in jemandem eine Szene machen.[4][7] Phrases from the theatre are auf offener Szene “in full view” and etwas in Szene setzen “to stage something”.[7][6] The spelling with ⟨sz⟩ is found from the last quarter of the 18th century and became general later, replacing Scene.[8]

Since the 1950s, under the influence of American English, the word has also meant a social milieu or the people active in a field, as in Drogenszene and die linke Szene; it was chosen as the German Word of the Year in 1977.[7][4][3]

Timeline

  • 1533 – First record, in the Latin form scenam.[6]
  • Mid-16th century – First use for a section of a play.[4]
  • Mid-18th century – The word comes to mean an event or a view.[4][7]
  • Last quarter of the 18th century – The spelling Szene appears beside Scene.[8]
  • Early 19th century – First use for a quarrel.[4]
  • 1950s – First use for a social milieu, after American English.[7]
  • 1977 – Szene is the German Word of the Year.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A scene, a section of an act, a film or a radio play set in one place and bounded by the entrance or exit of characters: zweiter Akt, vierte Szene.[9][1]
  2. The place where the action happens; the stage: Beifall auf offener Szene;[9] etwas in Szene setzen, to stage or arrange something;[9] sich in Szene setzen, to show oneself off.[9]
  3. A striking incident between people: Am Bahnsteig spielten sich rührende Szenen ab.[9]
  4. A row or angry reproaches: jemandem eine Szene machen.[9][1]
  5. A social milieu or the people active in a particular field: die Berliner Kunstszene;[9][1] Er kennt sich in der Szene aus.[9][1]

Word family

  • szenisch
  • inszenieren
  • Szenerie
  • Drogenszene
  • Szenenwechsel

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 902
  3. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 844
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  5. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  8. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 20, 1445
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag