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ETYMOLOGY DICTIONARY:
- 1878, "sketch of the plot of a play," from It. scenario, from L.L. scenarius "of stage scenes," from L. scena "scene" (see scene). Meaning "imagined situation" is first recorded 1962.
- 1530s, "subdivision of an act
of a play," also "stage-setting," from M.Fr. scène
(14c.), from L. scaena, scena "scene, stage," from Gk.
skene "scene, stage," originally "tent or booth,"
related to skia "shadow, shade," via notion of "something
that gives shade," from PIE root *skai- "to shine,
flicker, glimmer" (see shine).
Meaning "place in which the action of a literary work occurs" is attested from 1590s; general sense (non-literary) is recorded from 1590s. U.S. slang sense of "setting or milieu for a specific group or activity" is attested from 1951 in Beat jargon. Meaning "stormy encounter between two or more persons" is attested from 1761. Behind the scenes (1660s) is an image from the theater, "amid actors and stage machinery" (where patrons are not admitted). Scene of the crime (1923) first attested in Agatha Christie.