screen English · revision 2777

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1348|origins=dum scherm}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /skriːn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|skrene]], screne,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) probably [[bor|fro|escren|t=fire screen, tester of a bed]] in a shortened form, an Old North French variant of Old French escran (modern écran),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) which is of uncertain origin,^(Etymonline) probably from a Germanic source,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) perhaps [[dum|scherm|t=screen, cover, shield]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) or a Frankish word related to Old High German skrank “barrier”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Middle Dutch scherm is related to Old High German skirm “protection” and German Schirm.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb is from the noun.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A frame covered for protection from the heat of a fire or from draughts: 1348 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED's first example is from 1393.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A partition in a building, such as a church, is from the 15th century,^(Hoad 1986) and anything that hides from view from about 1600.^(Etymonline) An open mesh for sifting grain or coal is from 1573,^(Barnhart 1988) and a wire mesh in a window or door to keep out insects from 1840, in ''screen door''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The surface on which images are shown is from 1810, first of magic lantern shows and later of films;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the cinema world as a whole is from 1914, hence ''screen test'' (1918).^(Etymonline) The small fluorescent display of a television is by 1946, and that of a computer monitor by 1970.^(Etymonline) The verb meant “to shield, protect” from about 1485,^(Barnhart 1988) “to sift” from the 1660s,^(Etymonline) “to release a film” from 1915,^(Etymonline) and “to examine systematically for suitability” from 1943, a word of the Second World War.^(Etymonline) ''Screenplay'' is from 1916.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1348 – a fire screen.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1485 – verb, to shield.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1573 – a sieve.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1600 – anything that conceals.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1810 – a surface for projected images.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1840 – ''screen door''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1914 – the cinema world.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1943 – verb, to examine for suitability.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1946 – a television screen.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The flat surface of a [[television]], computer or similar device on which images are shown; a surface onto which films are projected.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''the screen'': Films or television as a medium.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A movable upright frame used to divide a room, hide something or protect from heat or draughts; anything that conceals or protects.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A frame of wire mesh in a window or door to keep out [[insect|alt=insects]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A coarse [[sieve]] for sorting gravel, coal and the like.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To shield or hide with a screen.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To examine people systematically, as for a disease or suitability for a job.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To show a film or television programme.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To sift through a screen.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[screenable]]

+ * [[screener]]

+ * [[screenless]]

+ * [[screenlike]]

+ * [[off-screen]]

+ * [[on-screen]]

+ * [[screen-print]]

+ * [[windscreen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[skirmish]]

+ * [[screenplay]]

+ * [[smokescreen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate slang noun ''screen'', a banknote, especially in ''queer screen'', a forged note, is from the late 18th century and now rare.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}