Etymologically
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screenplay

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 08:06. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • US: /ˈskɹiːnˌpleɪ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English screen + play,[2][3][4] with screen in its cinema sense.[3] That sense, a flat surface on which images are projected, goes back to 1810 and the magic lantern, and the word stood for the cinema world as a whole from 1914.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A film: 1913, in the Financial Times, usually written as two words, screen play; this sense is now rare.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The sense "script from which a film is made" is dated 1916 by Etymonline and Merriam-Webster,[3][6] and 1920, in the North American Review, by the OED,[2][5] which defines it as a script for a film or television programme with the acting directions and notes on sets and camera positions.[2] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1915–20.[4] The related screenwriter is dated 1913 by the OED and 1921 by Etymonline.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1913 – screen play, a film.[2]
  • 1916 – the script of a film.[3][6]
  • 1920 – the same sense in the OED.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The script of a film or television programme, with the dialogue and directions for the acting, the scenes and the camera: She adapted the novel into a screenplay.[7][6][2][8][9]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Webster's New World College Dictionary (2014), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt