scena

Forms

scena f (plural scene)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin scaena (“stage, scene”) (also scēna), from Ancient Greek σκηνή (skēnḗ, “tent; stage”).^[2][3][4][1] The origin of the Greek word is uncertain;^[2][3] Nocentini thinks it probably shares a root with σκιά (skiá, “shadow”).^[2][3]

The Latin spelling with ⟨ae⟩ does not match Greek ⟨η⟩.^[3][5] Nocentini and DEI explain it by an Etruscan intermediary, since Etruscan wrote ⟨ai⟩ for Greek long /eː/ and /aː/ and the Romans took much of their theatre from Etruria, and the OLD too puts the vowel down to Etruscan.^[3][6][5] Wiktionary instead sees a hypercorrect ⟨ae⟩, and Devoto speaks of dialect intermediaries.^[1][7]

The same learned word is French scène and Spanish escena.^[3][8] Of the derivatives, scenario became an international word, and its recent sense “possible course of events” came back from English.^[3][2] Scenografia is Greek σκηνογραφία (skēnographía, “scene-painting”), and sceneggiata is a Neapolitan word.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Florentine translation of Ovid's Ars amatoria, before 1313, where the word means the part of the theatre in which the play is performed.^[9][4] The sense “part of a play in which the same actors are on stage” is first found in Boccaccio, before 1375.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Lorenzo Ghiberti used the word in 1448 for the stage building of the ancient Greek theatre, and Grazzini in 1560 for the place where the action is set: in his prologue “La scena è Firenze” (the scene is Florence).^[2][10] Tasso, before 1595, applied it to a natural spectacle, Foscolo, before 1827, to an event or landscape shown in a work of art, and Tommaseo–Bellini in 1872 to human life as a whole.^[2] DEI also records a 16th-century sense “hut of branches for shade”, close to the Greek “tent”.^[6]

The plural scene “a show of feelings, a fuss” is recorded before 1694 in Segneri, and the purist Ugolini still objected to fare scene in 1855; scenata in this sense is in Manzoni's Promessi sposi (1840–1842).^[2] In music a scena is the recitative before an aria (1818), and English took the word in that sense in 1819 and jokingly for a scene of anger in 1847;^[11] German had it as a musical term in 1571.^[11] Mettere in scena “to stage” copies French mettre en scène.^[12]

Timeline

• Before 1313 – First record, in the Florentine translation of Ovid's Ars amatoria.^[9]
• Before 1375 – Boccaccio uses scena for a part of a play.^[2]
• 1448 – Lorenzo Ghiberti uses it for the stage building of the Greek theatre.^[2]
• 1560 – Grazzini uses it for the place where the action is set.^[2]
• 1571 – German Scena as a musical term.^[11]
• Before 1595 – Tasso uses it for a natural spectacle.^[2]
• Before 1694 – Plural scene “show of feelings” in Paolo Segneri.^[2][11]
• 1819 – English scena in music.^[11]
• 1840–1842 – Scenata in Manzoni's Promessi sposi.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (theatre) The stage, the part of a theatre where the actors perform: Quando si alzò il sipario, la scena era buia.^{[4][12][13][14]}
2. The scenery or set that represents the place of the action, on stage or in a studio.^[4][13][15]
3. The place where the action of a play is set; by extension, the place where an event happens: la scena del delitto.^[4][13][15]
4. (chiefly plural) The theatre as an art or career: calcare le scene, to act, ritirarsi dalle scene, to retire from the stage.^[4][15][14]
5. A scene, each part of an act of a play; a sequence of a film: La scena finale del film è girata in riva al mare.^[4][13][15]
6. A sight or episode that one witnesses as if it were a play: Davanti alla stazione assistemmo a una scena commovente.^[4][13]
7. (figurative) The field in which events take place: la scena politica.^[4]
8. (colloquial, chiefly plural) An exaggerated show of feelings, a fuss: Non fare scene davanti agli ospiti!^[4][2][15]
9. (music) A recitative leading into an aria.^[11]

Word family

• scenario
• scenata
• scenico
• sceneggiare
• sceneggiatura
• sceneggiatore
• sceneggiata
• scenografia
• scenografo
• inscenare
• proscenio
• retroscena

Related words

• Latin scaena
• French scène

Usage notes

Common phrases are andare in scena (of a play, to be performed), mettere in scena (to stage; figuratively, to fake), colpo di scena (a sudden twist) and fare scena muta (to stay silent, as at an examination).^[4][12][15] Two minor words are spelled the same: an Old Italian scena “vessel, jar” of the central dialects, of uncertain origin, found in the 13th-century poet Castra, and an obsolete gran scena, a figure of the quadrille, a misreading of French grande chaîne.^[9][16][17]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3382
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d e f Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 926
17. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 931