scheme

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin schēma (“figure, form”), from Ancient Greek σχῆμα (skhêma, “form, shape”), from ἔχω (ékhō, “I hold”). Doublet of schema. Compare sketch.

noun

1. (rhetoric, obsolete) An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words.
2. (astrology) A representation of the aspects of the celestial bodies for any moment or at a given event.
3. A systematic plan of future action.
   The stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes. c. 1713, Jonathan Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects
   A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. This set-up solves several problems […]. 2013-06-01, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly)
4. A plot or secret, devious plan.
5. An orderly combination of related parts.
   such a scheme of things as shall at once take in time and eternity 1706, Francis Atterbury, A Sermon Preach'd in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul; at the Funeral of My. Tho. Bennett
   arguments […] sufficient to support and demonstrate a whole scheme of moral philosophy 1754, Jonathan Edwards, The Freedom of the Will
6. A chart or diagram of a system or object.
   April 29, 1694, Robert South, A Sermon Preached at Westminster Abbey to draw an exact scheme of Constantinople, or a map of France
7. (mathematics) A mathematical structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety in several ways, such as taking account of multiplicities and allowing "varieties" defined over any commutative ring (e.g. Fermat curves over the integers).
8. (UK, chiefly Scotland, colloquial) A council housing estate.
   It was all too dear. They all just put their prices up because it was out in the scheme. 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 101
   You can’t really say to the kids in the schemes [Scottish council estates]: don’t do drugs, they’ll wreck your life, you’ll never get a job or a house or buy nice things. 2023-07-02, David Barnett, quoting Irvine Welsh, “‘Choose drugs?’ 30 years after he wrote Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh says life is tougher now”, in The Observer, →ISSN
9. (Internet) Part of a uniform resource identifier indicating the protocol or other purpose, such as http: or news:.
10. (UK, pensions) A portfolio of pension plans with related benefits comprising multiple independent members.

verb

1. (intransitive) To plot, or contrive a plan.
   The openly ridiculous plot has The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) scheming to win the Pirate Of The Year competition, even though he’s a terrible pirate, far outclassed by rivals voiced by Jeremy Piven and Salma Hayek. April 26, 2012, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits”, in The Onion AV Club
2. (transitive) To plan; to contrive.
   He schemed a plot. He made use of the hotel's stationery to write a letter. 1908, Bohemian Magazine, volume 15, page 381