escena

Forms

escena f (plural escenas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin scaena (“stage; theatre”), also spelt scēna, a learned borrowing.^[2][3][1] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek σκηνή (skēnḗ, “tent, booth; stage building”).^[2][3][4] The OLD puts the change of vowel in Latin down to Etruscan, and Wiktionary sees in ⟨ae⟩ a hypercorrect spelling.^[5][1]

The Greek word first meant a tent or booth, and then the building behind the stage before which plays were acted.^[4][6] It is usually derived from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“shade”), a light awning giving shade, though the vowel is hard to explain;^[1] Wiktionary also mentions a possible Semitic origin.^[1] Gómez de Silva and the DHLF tentatively connect it with Ancient Greek σκιά (skiá, “shadow”).^[7][8]

The same Latin word was borrowed as French scène, recorded in the plural in the 15th century and in the singular before 1574.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas and Segura Munguía date the word to 1577.^[2][9] The Quijote (1605) uses it of a division of a play: en la primera scena del primer acto “in the first scene of the first act”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades defined escena as the place where the actors perform, commonly called the boards, with all its scenery, and as a division of a play that lasts while the same people are on stage.^[11] It derived the word from Greek, explaining the Greek word as a tent or a bower of branches.^[11] The Academy's dictionary of 1817 has a separate sense “bed or hut made of branches”.^[12]

In the 19th century the word spread to events of real life.^[13][14] Salvá (1846) records la escena política “the political scene”, and Gaspar y Roig (1853) any striking event, as una escena terrible, together with estar en escena and poner en escena “to stage”.^[13][14] A record of 1789 from New Granada already speaks of the curtain drawn on una trágica escena.^[15] Later senses are the scene of a film, the art of acting, and a theatrical outburst meant to impress, as in hacer una escena.^[16][17][3] In slang desaparecer de escena has meant “to die” or “to clear off”.^[18][19]

Timeline

• 1577 – the first record of escena.^[2][9]
• 1605 – la primera scena del primer acto in the Quijote.^[10]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines the stage and the division of a play.^[11]
• 1789 – the first record from the Americas, in New Granada.^[15]
• 1843 – the derivative escenario is recorded.^[2]
• 1846 – Salvá records the figurative escena política.^[13]
• 1853 – Gaspar y Roig record poner en escena “to stage”.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the Latin and Greek etymology.^[20]

Meanings

Noun

1. The stage of a theatre, the escenario.^[3][17][1]
2. The set built and dressed for a performance: La escena representa una cocina.^[3]
3. A scene of a play: a part of an act during which the same characters are on stage; also figuratively.^[3][1]
4. A scene of a film: a self-contained part made of one or more shots with the same characters.^[3]
5. The art of acting, the theatre: una gran actriz de la escena.^[3][17]
6. Dramatic literature: la escena francesa del siglo XVII.^[3]
7. An event of real life seen as a spectacle: una escena de alegría en el puerto.^[3][17]
8. The setting or circle of an activity: la escena política.^[3][13]
9. (art) A picture of an event with several figures.^[3]
10. A showy, untimely outburst, often feigned, meant to impress someone: hacer una escena.^[3][17]
11. (architecture, theatre) In ancient Greek and Roman theatres, the structure behind the proscenium that served as a backdrop, usually the front of a house or temple.^[3]

Word family

• escenario
• puesta en escena
• escenificar

Related words

• escénico
• escenografía
• proscenio
• Latin scaena
• French scène

Usage notes

Poner en escena is “to stage” a play, and puesta en escena is “staging”.^[3][1] Hacer or dar una escena is “to make a scene”.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. escena
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. escena
4. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. escena
7. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. escena
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 714
10. ^ a b Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 486
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 561
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 379
13. ^ a b c d Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 470
14. ^ a b c Gaspar y Roig (eds.) (1853–1855), Biblioteca ilustrada de Gaspar y Roig: Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Imprenta y Librería de Gaspar y Roig, p. 1, 904
15. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. escena
16. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. escena
17. ^ a b c d e f Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. escena
18. ^ Besses, Luis (c. 1905), Diccionario de argot español o lenguaje jergal gitano, delincuente profesional y popular, Barcelona: Manuel Soler, p. 79
19. ^ León, Víctor (1980), Diccionario de argot español y lenguaje popular, Madrid: Alianza Editorial, p. s.v. escena
20. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 448