Etymologically
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scenario

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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.

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