schene

See also: schène

English

Alternative forms

• schoene, schœne

Etymology

From Latin schoenus, from Ancient Greek σχοῖνος (skhoînos, “a rush, a reed, a land measure”).

Noun

schene (plural schenes)

1. (historical) An Egyptian or Persian measure of length, varying from thirty-two to sixty stadia.
   • 1786, Mr. Savary, “Letters on Egypt”, in The Critical Review, Or, Annals of Literature‎^[1], volume 62, page 440:

     Herodotus has fixed the measure of the schene, in Lower Egypt, at four miles, or a league and a quarter.

   • 1817, Encyclopaedia Londinensis, or, Universal dictionary of arts, sciences, and literature, volume 15:

     With regard to the extent of this lake, we recur again to the testimonies above cited: Herodotus says, that the circumference of the lake Mœris was 3600 stadia, or sixty schenes, which, says the historian, form the dimensions of the maritime base of Egypt, (seventy-five leagues.)

   • 1917, Charles Francis Horne, The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East‎^[2], volume 2:

     We embarked, we parted; we were not long in arriving at the north of Coptos, the distance of a schene.

Dutch

Verb

schene

1. (dated or formal) singular past subjunctive of schijnen

Anagrams

• scheen

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Anglian Old English sċēne, from Proto-West Germanic *skaunī, from Proto-Germanic *skauniz.

Alternative forms

• chene, schine, shene
• scen, scene (chiefly Early Middle English); sheene (Late Middle English); sceone, scone (chiefly Laȝamon's Brut)
• scheen, schen, schenne, sheyn (Northern); scheyne (Early Scots)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃeːn(ə)/

Adjective

schene

1. Shining, gleaming; giving off light.
2. Beautiful, attractive; visually pleasing.
3. Splendid, marvellous, wonderful.
4. Noble, illustrious, glorious (of people)
5. (rare) Pure, clean; lacking contamination.

Derived terms

• schenen

Descendants

• English: sheen
• Middle Scots: schene, schein

Noun

schene (plural schenes)

1. A beautiful or wonderful person.

Descendants

• English: sheen
• Middle Scots: schene
  • Scots: sheen

Adverb

schene

1. Brightly, shiningly.
2. Gloriously, beautifully.

References

• “shẹ̄ne, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “shẹ̄ne, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “sheen, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “s(c)hene, schein(e, adj., n.¹ and adv”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.

Etymology 2

Verb

schene

1. alternative form of schenen (“to shine”)