Scene Meaning
/siːn/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe location of an event that attracts attention.
nounThe stage.
Sentence Examples
The director wanted the local Asahi reporter to go to the scene of the crime.
The burglar was traced by one of the things he had left on the scene.
Police found fragments of glass near the scene.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The movie's opening ____ showed a very beautiful sunrise over the ocean.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The detective arrived at the ____ of the crime before the forensic team.
Word Origin & History
From Late Middle English scene, from Middle French scene, borrowed from Latin sc(a)ena, from Ancient Greek σκηνή (skēnḗ, “scene, stage”). Doublet of scena and skene.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels."
— 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Affair at the Novelty Theatre”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
"In Troy, there lies the scene."
— c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene prologue]:
"The world is a vast scene of strife."
— c. 1810, John M. Mason, On Religious Controversy:
"Through what new scenes and changes must we pass!"
— 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 56:
"A sylvan scene with various greens was drawn, / Shades on the sides, and in the midst a lawn."
— 1697, Virgil, “Palamon and Arcite”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The movie's opening ____ showed a very beautiful sunrise over the ocean.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The detective arrived at the ____ of the crime before the forensic team.