scenario

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɪˈnɑːɹi.əʊ/ (UK); /sɪˈnɛəɹioʊ/, /sɪˈnæɹioʊ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian scenario, from scena (“scene”),^[2][3][4] from Late Latin scenarius, of stage scenes,^[3] or Latin scaenarium,^[5] from scēna (“stage, scene”) (see scene).^[2][3] An earlier nativized form was scenary (1690s).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sketch of the plot of a play: 1868 in Etymonline, 1878 in the OED and Barnhart;^[3][6][2] MWU dates it to 1875.^[5]

Semantic evolution

A film script with full details of scenes is from 1911.^[6] An imagined sequence of future events is recorded by 1960, of hypothetical nuclear wars,^[3] and Barnhart credits Herman Kahn's Thinking About the Unthinkable (1962).^[2] A scientific model accounting for observed facts is also from 1962.^[6]

Timeline

• 1690s – scenary.^[3]
• 1868 – an outline of a play's plot.^[3]
• 1911 – a film script.^[6]
• 1960 – an imagined situation.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A possible sequence of future events: the worst-case scenario.
2. An outline of the plot of a play, film or opera.
3. A film script with details of scenes and stage directions.

Related words

• scene
• scenery
• scenic

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press