scene 
Giddy witli praise, and puff'd with female pride, 
.Sin- quits the tragic seem. Churchill, Rosclad. 
Our scene precariously subsists too long 
On French translation and Italian song. 
Pope, Prol. to Addison's Cato, 1. 41. 
2. The place in which the action of a play is 
supposed to occur; the place represented by 
the stage and its painted slides, hangings, etc. ; 
the surroundings amid which anything is set 
before the imagination. 
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene. 
SAat.,K. and J., Prol. 
Asia, Africa, and Europe are the several sceties of his 
[Virgil's] fable. Addison, Spectator, No. 357. 
3. The place where anything is done or takes 
place: as, the scene of one's labors; the scene 
of the catastrophe. 
The large open place called the Roomeyleh, on the west 
of the Citadel of Cairo, is a common scene of the execution 
of criminals. E. W. Lane, Modern Egyptians, I. 333. 
4. One of the painted slides, hangings, etc., 
used on the stage of a theater to give an ap- 
pearance of reality to the action of a play. 
These are of several kinds, and are known, according to 
their forms and uses, as flats, drops, borders or sojfits, and 
wings. 
By Her Majesty's Command no Persons are to be ad- 
mitted behind the scenes. 
Quoted in Ashtun's Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, 
[II. S. 
5. A division of a play or of an act of a play, 
generally so much as represents what passes 
between the same persons in the same place ; 
also, some particular incident or situation rep- 
resented in the course of a play. 
At last, in tlu> pump-ai id-tub re/ir. Mrs. Grudden lighted 
the blue-fire, and all the unemployed members of the 
company came in ... in order to finish off with a tableau. 
Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, xxiv. 
6. One of a series of events, actions, or situa- 
tions contributing to form a complete view or 
spectacle or a written representation or de- 
scription: as, scenes from the life of Buddha; 
scenes and sketches of camp life. 
Through what variety of untried being, 
Through what new scenes and changes must we pass ! 
Addison, Cato, v. 1. 
Hence 7. Any exhibition, display, or demon- 
stration ; especially, an exhibition of strong 
feeling, usually of a pathetic or passionate 
character, between two or more persons. 
"Hush! hush!" whispers the doctor; "she must be 
quite quiet. . . . There must be no more scenes, my 
young fellow." Thackeray, Philip, xxvii. 
8. A view ; a landscape ; scenery. 
Overhead up grew 
Insuperable highth of loftiest shade, 
Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm, 
A sylvan scene. Milton, P. L., iv. 140. 
Some temple's mouldering tops between 
With venerable grandeur mark the scene. 
Goldsmith, Traveller, 1. 110. 
Behind the scenes, back of the visible stage ; out of 
sight of the audience ; among the machinery of the thea- 
ter ; hence, having information or knowledge of affairs 
not apparent to the public. 
You see that the world is governed by very different 
personages to what is imagined by those who are not be- 
hind the scenes. Disraeli. 
Carpenter's scene (theat.), a short scene played near 
the footlights, while more elaborate scenery is being set 
behind. Set scenes, scenes on the stage of a theater 
made up of many parts mounted on frames which fit into 
each other, as an interior with walls, doors, windows, fire- 
place, etc., agarden with built-up terraces, etc. To make 
a scene, to make a noisy or otherwise unpleasant exhibi- 
tion of feeling. 
You have no desire to expostulate, to upbraid, to make 
a scene. Charlotte. Bronte, Jane Eyre, xxvii. 
= Syn. 8. Prospect, Landscape, etc. See mew. 
scenet (sen), v. t. [< scene, .] To exhibit; 
make an exhibition or scene of; display; set 
out. 
Our food is plainer, but eaten with a better appetite ; 
our course of employment and action the very same, only 
not scened so illustriously, nor set off with so good com- 
pany and conversation. 
Abp. Sancroft, Letters, etc. (1691), II. 17. (Latham.) 
scene-dock (sen'dok), . The space adjoining 
the stage of a theater in which the scenes are 
stored. 
scene-man (sen'man), n. One who manages 
the scenery in a ttieater; a scene-shifter. 
scene-painter (sen'pan"ter), n. One who paints 
scenes or scenery for theaters. 
scene-painting (sen'pan"ting), n. A depart- 
ment of the art of painting governed by the laws 
of perspective, applied to the peculiar exigen- 
cies of the theatrical stage. This painting is done 
chiefly in distemper, and, while usually of summary exe- 
cution, it admits of the most striking effects. 
scene-plot (sen'plot), . The list of scenes 
and parts of scenes needed for any given play. 
5385 
scenery (se'ner-i), >i. [Formerly also scennry : 
= It. Pg. Kcr.iHirio, scenery, a playbill (= &. 
sceiierie = Sw. Dan. srenrri, prob. < E. 
< L. seeitarius, of or belonging to scenes, 
scene : see scene. The E. word is practically < 
scene + -ery.] 1. The disposition and succes- 
sion of the scenes of a play. 
To make a sketch, or a more perfect model of a picture, 
is, in the language of poets, to draw up the scenery of a 
play. Dryden, Parallel of Poetry and Fainting. 
2. The representation of the place in which 
an action is performed; the painted slides, 
hangings, and other devices used on a stage 
to represent the place in which the action of 
a play is supposed to take place. See scene, 
>,., 4. 
Sophocles increased the number of actors to three, and 
added the decoration of painted scenery. 
Twining, tr. of Aristotle on Poetry, i. 
3. The general appearance of a place, regarded 
from a picturesque or pictorial point of view ; 
the aggregate of features or objects that give 
character to a landscape. 
The scenery is inimitable ; the rock broken, and covered 
with shrubs at the top, and afterwards spreading into one 
grand and simple shade. 
GUpin, Essay on Prints, p. 133. (Latham.) 
Never need an American look beyond his own country 
for the sublime and beautiful of natural scenery. 
Irving. (Imp. Diet.) 
scene-shifter (sen'shifter), . One who ar- 
ranges the movable scenes in a theater in ac- 
cordance with the requirements of the play. 
scenic (sen'ik or se'nik), a. [= F. scenique = 
Sp. escenico = Pg. It. scenico, < L. scenicus, < Gr. 
aiajviK.6, of or belonging to the stage or scene, 
dramatical, theatrical, < atapni, stage, scene : see 
scene.'] 1. Of or pertaining to the stage; dra- 
matic; theatrical: as, the scenic poets; scenic 
games. 
Bid scenic virtue form the rising age. 
Johnson, Prol. Opening of Drury Lane Theatre (1747). 
The long-drawn aisles of its scenic cathedral had been 
darkened so skilfully as to convey an idea of dim religious 
grandeur and vast architectural space. 
Whyte Melville, White Hose, II. xxviii. 
2. Of or pertaining to the landscape or natu- 
ral scenery; abounding in fine scenery or land- 
scape views: as, the scenic attractions of a 
place ; a scenic route of travel. [Recent.] 
3. Pertaining to pictorial design ; of such na- 
ture as to tell a story or convey ideas through 
intelligible rendering of figures or other ob- 
jects. [Recent.] 
As a general principle, there is far less antagonism be- 
tween what is decorative and what is scenic in painting 
than is sometimes supposed. 
C. B. Moore, Gothic Architecture, p. 307. 
scenical (sen'i-kal or se'ni-kal), a. [< scenic + 
-al.] 1. Of or pertaining to the stage ; scenic; 
dramatic; theatrical. 
If he [Gildas] had prepared any thing scenical to be acted 
on the theatre, certainly it would have been a tragedy. 
Fuller, Worthies, Somersetshire, III. 101. 
Many things and actions they speak of as having done, 
which they did no otherwise than in prophetic vision and 
scenical imagery. Evelyn, True Religion, I. 363. 
Hence 2. Unreal, as in a play; conventional. 
Nay, this occasion, in me who look upon the distinc- 
tions amongst men to be merely scenical, raised reflections 
upon the emptiness of all human perfection and greatness 
in general. Steele, Tatler, No. 17. 
scenically (sen'i- or se'ni-kal-i), adv. In a 
scenic manner ; theatrically. 
Not scientifically, but scentcally. 
G. D. Boardman, Creative Week, p. 19. 
scenographer (se-nog'ra-fer), w. [< scenog- 
raph-y -f -erl.] One who practises scenog- 
raphy. 
Apollodorus was sciagrapher or scenoyrapher according 
to Hesychius. 
C. 0. Miiller, Manual of Archeeol. (trans.), 8 136. 
scenographic (se-no-graf'ik), a. [= F. sceno- 
graphique = Pg. scenografico, < Gr. aKt/voypa^i- 
Kof, < oKr/vo-ypaijiia, scene-painting: see scenog- 
rapny."] Of or pertaining to scenography; 
drawn in perspective. 
scenographical (se-no-graf'i-kal), a. [< seeno- 
j/rapliic + -a?.] Same as scenographic. 
scenographically (se-np-graf'i-kal-i), adv. In 
a seenographic manner; in perspective. 
scenography (se-nog'ra-fi), n. [= F. scenogra- 
/iliie = Sp. esceitograflri = Pg. It. scenograjia, < 
Gr. ait>ivoypa<t>ia, scene-painting, esp. in perspec- 
tive, < aK!jvoy/>A<t>of, painting scenes, a scene- 
painter, < OKr/vti, scene, 4- yp&Qetv^ write.] The 
representing of an object, as a building, accord- 
ing to the rules of perspective, and from a point 
of view not on a principal axis. 
scent 
Scenopinidae (se-no-pin'i-de), n. pi. [NL. 
(Westwood, 1840), < Scenopinun + -idee.] A 
small family of brachycerous flies, consisting 
of small slender bare species common in dwell- 
ings. The larva; are very slender and white ; they are 
found in decaying wood and under cai-pets, and are sup- 
posed to be carnivorous. 
Scenopinus (se-no-pi'nus), n. [NL. (Latreille, 
1802), emended to Scenopceus (Agassiz, 1847), 
(. Gr. aKt/voTrotof, tent-making, < aK>ji>o<;, a hut, 
tent, + iroieiv, make, produce, create.] The 
typical genus of Scenopinidse. Five species are 
North American, and four European. S. fenes- 
tratus and S. fasciatus are examples. 
scent (sent), . [Better spelled, as formerly, 
sent (a spelling which appears also in the com- 
pounds assent, consent, dissent, resent), the c 
being ignorantly inserted, in the 17th centuiy, 
as in scythe for sithe, scite for site, scituate for 
situate (perhaps in this case to simulate a con- 
nection with ascent, descent); early mod. E. 
sent, < ME. senten, < OF. sentir, F. sentir = Pr. 
Sp. Pg. sentir =:It. sentire, feel, perceive, smell, 
< L. sentire, perceive by the senses, observe, 
give one's opinion or sentiments; prob. orig. 
'strive after,' 'go after,' akin to Goth, sintlis = 
OHGr.sind = A.S.sitlk, 'E.obs.sittte, a going, jour- 
ney, time, and to OHG. sinnan, strive after, go, 
MHG. G. sinnen, perceive, feel, whence OHG. 
MHG. sin (sinn-), G. sinn, perception, sense: 
see sithe'2. From the L. sentire are also ult. E. 
assent, consent, dissent, resent, etc., sense*-, sen- 
sory, consensus, etc., sentence, sententious, senti- 
ment, presentiment, etc.] I. trans. 1. To per- 
ceive or discern by the smell ; smell : as, to seen t 
game. 
Methinks I scent the morning air. 
SAa*., Hamlet, i. 6. 58. 
He ... was fond of sauntering by the fruit-tree wall, 
and scenting the apricots when they were warmed by the 
morning sunshine. George Eliot, Adam Bede, lii. 
Hence 2. To perceive in any way ; especially, 
to have a faint inkling or suspicion of. 
Alas ! I scent not your confederacies, 
Your plots and combinations ! 
B. Jonson, Sejanus, iii. 1. 
The rest of the men scent an attempted swap from the 
outset, IF. M. Baker, New Timothy, p. 187. 
3. To fill with smell, odor, or effluvium; cause 
to smell; make fragrant or stinking ; perfume. 
Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the ev'ning gale. 
Burns, Cottar's Saturday Night. 
The humble rosemary, 
Whose sweets so thanklessly are shed 
To scent the desert and the dead. 
Moore, Lalla Rookb, Light of the Harem. 
II. intrans. 1. To be or become scented; 
have odor ; be odoriferous ; smell. 
Thunder bolts and lightnings . . . doe sent strongly of 
brimstone. Holland, tr. of Pliny, xxxv. 15. 
2. To hunt or pursue by scent. 
scent (sent), . [Better spelled sent, as in the 
verb; < ME. sent; from the verb.] 1. An ef- 
fluvium from any body capable of affecting the 
olfactory sense and being perceived as a smell ; 
anything that can be smelled ; odor ; smell ; 
fragrance or perfume. 
The sent [of the Ferret] endureth fifteen or twentie 
dayes in those things which he hath come neere to, and 
causeth some Towne sometimes to be disinhabited. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 342. 
Cloud-dividing eagles, that can tow'r 
Above the scent of these inferior things ! 
Quarles, Emblems, v. 13. 
And scent of hay new-mown. SI. Arnold, Thyrsis. 
2. A fragrant liquid distilled from flowers, etc., 
used to perfume the handkerchief and other 
articles of dress; a perfume. 3. The sense 
of smell ; the faculty of olfaction ; smell : as, 
a hound of nice scent. 
He [Solinus] addeth the tales of men with dogges heads ; 
of others with one legge, and yet very swift of foot; of 
Pigmeis, of such as Hue only by sent. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 456. 
The sporting-dogs formed a separate and valuable class 
of exports, including rough terriers or spaniels which ran 
entirely by scent. C. Elton, Origins of Eng. Hist, p. 300. 
4. The odoriferous trace of an animal's pres- 
ence; the effluvium left by an animal in pass- 
ing, by means of which it may be tracked or 
trailed by smell ; hence, the track of such an 
animal ; the course of its pursuit : as, to lose or 
recover the scent, as dogs: often used figura- 
tively of any trace by which pursuit or inquiry 
of any kind can be guided. 
He ... travelled upon the same scent into Ethiopia. 
Sir W . Temple. 
Trim found he was upon a wrong scent, and stopped 
short with a low bow. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, iv. 18. 
