A systematic plan of action: "Did you ever carry out your scheme of writing a series of sonnets embodying all the great epochs of art?"(Edith Wharton).
A secret or devious plan; a plot. See Synonyms at plan.
An orderly combination of related parts: an irrigation scheme with dams, reservoirs, and channels.
A chart, diagram, or outline of a system or object.
v.
schemed, schem·ing, schemes
v.
tr.
To plot: scheming their revenge.
To contrive a plan or scheme for.
v.
intr.
To make plans, especially secret or devious ones.
[Latin schēma, figure, from Greek skhēma; see segh- in Indo-European roots.]
1553, "figure of speech," from M.L. schema "shape, figure, form, figure of speech," from Gk. skhema (gen. skhematos) "figure, appearance, the nature of a thing," related to skhein "to get," and ekhein "to have," from PIE base *segh- "to hold, to hold in one's power, to have" (cf. Skt. sahate "he masters," sahah "power, victory;" Avestan hazah "power, victory;" Gk. ekhein "to have, hold;" Goth. sigis, O.H.G. sigu, O.N. sigr, O.E. sige "victory"). The sense "program of action" first is attested 1647. Unfavorable overtones (selfish, devious) began to creep in early 18c. The verb, in the sense of "devise a scheme," was first recorded 1767. Color scheme is attested from 1884.
a statement that evades the question by cleverness or trickery [syn: dodge]
3.
a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole; "a vast system of production and distribution and consumption keep the country going" [syn: system]
4.
an internal representation of the world; an organization of concepts and actions that can be revised by new information about the world [syn: schema]
Ep"och\ (?; 277), n. [LL. epocha, Gr. ? check, stop, an epoch of a star, an historical epoch, fr. ? to hold on, check; 'epi` upon + ? to have, hold; akin to Skr. sah to overpower, Goth. sigis victory, AS. sigor, sige, G. sieg: cf. F. ['e]poque. See Scheme.]1. A fixed point of time, established in history by the occurrence of some grand or remarkable event; a point of time marked by an event of great subsequent influence; as, the epoch of the creation; the birth of Christ was the epoch which gave rise to the Christian era. In divers ages, . . . divers epochs of time were used. --Usher. Great epochs and crises in the kingdom of God. --Trench. The acquittal of the bishops was not the only event which makes the 30th of June, 1688, a great epoch in history. --Macaulay. Note: Epochs mark the beginning of new historical periods, and dates are often numbered from them. 2. A period of time, longer or shorter, remarkable for events of great subsequent influence; a memorable period; as, the epoch of maritime discovery, or of the Reformation. "So vast an epoch of time." --F. Harrison. The influence of Chaucer continued to live even during the dreary interval which separates from one another two important epochs of our literary history. --A. W. Ward. 3. (Geol.) A division of time characterized by the prevalence of similar conditions of the earth; commonly a minor division or part of a period. The long geological epoch which stored up the vast coal measures. --J. C. Shairp. 4. (Astron.) (a) The date at which a planet or comet has a longitude or position. (b) An arbitrary fixed date, for which the elements used in computing the place of a planet, or other heavenly body, at any other date, are given; as, the epoch of Mars; lunar elements for the epoch March 1st, 1860. Syn: Era; time; date; period; age. Usage: Epoch, Era. We speak of the era of the Reformation, when we think of it as a period, during which a new order of things prevailed; so also, the era of good feeling, etc. Had we been thinking of the time as marked by certain great events, or as a period in which great results were effected, we should have called the times when these events happened epochs, and the whole period an epoch. The capture of Constantinople is an epoch in the history of Mahometanism; but the flight of Mahomet is its era. --C. J. Smith.
Hec"tic\, a. [F. hectique, Gr. ? habitual, consumptive, fr. ? habit, a habit of body or mind, fr. ? to have; akin to Skr. sah to overpower, endure; cf. AS. sige, sigor, victory, G. sieg, Goth. sigis. Cf. Scheme.]1. Habitual; constitutional; pertaining especially to slow waste of animal tissue, as in consumption; as, a hectic type in disease; a hectic flush. 2. In a hectic condition; having hectic fever; consumptive; as, a hectic patient. Hectic fever (Med.), a fever of irritation and debility, occurring usually at a advanced stage of exhausting disease, as a in pulmonary consumption.
Plan\, n. [F., fr. L. planus flat, level. See Plain, a.]1. A draught or form; properly, a representation drawn on a plane, as a map or a chart; especially, a top view, as of a machine, or the representation or delineation of a horizontal section of anything, as of a building; a graphic representation; a diagram. 2. A scheme devised; a method of action or procedure expressed or described in language; a project; as, the plan of a constitution; the plan of an expedition. God's plans like lines pure and white unfold. --M. R. Smith. 3. A method; a way of procedure; a custom. The simple plan, That they should take who have the power, And they should keep who can. --Wordsworth. Body plan, Floor plan, etc. See under Body, Floor, etc. Syn: Scheme; draught; delineation; plot; sketch; project; design; contrivance; device. See Scheme.
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