scan

Pronunciation

• IPA: /skæn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English scannen, earlier scanden,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin scandere (“to scan verse”), which in Classical Latin meant to climb or mount,^[3][2][4] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *skand- (“to spring, leap, climb”) (see scale),^[3][2] source also of Greek σκάνδαλον (skándalon, “trap, stumbling block”) and Sanskrit स्कन्दति (skándati, “he leaps”).^[2][5] The Late Latin sense probably alludes to raising and lowering the foot to mark the rhythm,^[4][6] although Etymonline calls the image unclear.^[3] English lost the Latin -d-, probably because it was taken for the past-participle ending -ed.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To mark off verse into metrical feet, to analyse verse by its metre: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

From the metrical sense the verb came to mean to estimate the correctness of something and to examine minutely,^[8][4] and in the late 18th century to look at searchingly.^[8][4] The intransitive sense, to conform to the rules of metre, is by 1857.^[3] New technology brought the meaning to pass over systematically with a scanner, especially to convert into signals, in 1928,^[3] and almost the opposite sense, to look over quickly or skim, is attested by 1926.^[3] The American Heritage usage panel of 1969 accepted the skimming sense, with 85 percent approval.^[9] The noun, a close investigation, is from 1706,^[3][7][5] and an image obtained by scanning from 1953.^[3][7]

Timeline

• before 1398 – to analyse verse.^[2]
• 1706 – the noun, close scrutiny.^[7]
• 1857 – to conform to a metre.^[3]
• 1926 – to skim.^[3]
• 1928 – to pass a beam over.^[3]
• 1953 – an image obtained by scanning.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To examine closely.
2. To look over quickly; to skim or glance through.
3. To analyse verse into metrical patterns, or to conform to a metre.
4. To move a beam of light, electrons or radar systematically over a surface or region, to read or reproduce an image or search for a target.
5. To search stored data automatically for particular items.

Noun

1. An act of scanning.
2. An examination of the body with a scanner, or the image it produces.

Word family

• scannable
• scanner
• CAT scan
• CT scan

Related words

• scansion
• scandal
• ascend
• descend
• scale

Usage notes

Because scan once meant to examine closely, using it for a quick look was criticized, but the American Heritage panel accepted that use in 1969.^[9] In Lakeland and Yorkshire dialect, scan meant to look or peep.^[10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)