scheme

[skeem] /skim/
noun
1.
a plan, design, or program of action to be followed; project.
2.
an underhand plot; intrigue.
3.
a visionary or impractical project.
4.
a body or system of related doctrines, theories, etc.:
a scheme of philosophy.
5.
any system of correlated things, parts, etc., or the manner of its arrangement.
6.
a plan, program, or policy officially adopted and followed, as by a government or business:
The company's pension scheme is very successful.
7.
an analytical or tabular statement.
8.
a diagram, map, or the like.
9.
an astrological diagram of the heavens.
verb (used with object), schemed, scheming.
10.
to devise as a scheme; plan; plot; contrive.
verb (used without object), schemed, scheming.
11.
to lay schemes; devise plans; plot.
Origin
1545-55; < Medieval Latin schēma (stem schēmat-) < Greek schêma form, figure
Related forms
schemeless, adjective
schemer, noun
outscheme, verb (used with object), outschemed, outscheming.
subscheme, noun
underscheme, noun
unschemed, adjective
Synonyms
1, 6. See plan. 2. stratagem, cabal, conspiracy. 5. pattern, schema. 10. See plot1 .
Examples from the web for scheme
  • Instead, it seemed that every idea and action was contrived extemporaneously, and without scheme or strategy.
  • The basic color scheme is a soft buttery yellow for the cabinets, with periwinkle blue on the cabinet handles.
  • The rug defines the space and color scheme, making it easier to choose accessories.
  • But tweak the shape a little and update the color scheme and it's even better.
  • Vivid green and turquoise subway tiles echo the color scheme of the rest of this beach house.
  • Our scheme to get him out of the henhouse has been a total unexpected triumph.
  • The scheme leaves the ground level virtually unobstructed.
  • Likewise, it may not be a winning scheme to entirely dodge a nation because prices there are through the roof.
  • Some scientists are mean people, which isn't to say that they're bad in the big scheme of things.
  • One scheme proposes attaching a spacecraft to an asteroid and firing the craft's engines to push the space rock away.
British Dictionary definitions for scheme

scheme

/skiːm/
noun
1.
a systematic plan for a course of action
2.
a systematic arrangement of correlated parts; system
3.
a secret plot
4.
a visionary or unrealizable project
5.
a chart, diagram, or outline
6.
an astrological diagram giving the aspects of celestial bodies at a particular time
7.
(mainly Brit) a plan formally adopted by a commercial enterprise or governmental body, as for pensions, etc
8.
(mainly Scot) an area of housing that is laid out esp by a local authority; estate
verb
9.
(transitive) to devise a system for
10.
to form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner
Derived Forms
schemer, noun
Word Origin
C16: from Latin schema, from Greek skhēma form
Word Origin and History for scheme
n.

1550s, "figure of speech," from Medieval Latin schema "shape, figure, form, appearance; figure of speech; posture in dancing," from Greek skhema (genitive skhematos) "figure, appearance, the nature of a thing," related to skhein "to get," and ekhein "to have," from PIE root *segh- "to hold, to hold in one's power, to have" (cf. Sanskrit sahate "he masters, overcomes," sahah "power, victory;" Avestan hazah "power, victory;" Greek ekhein "to have, hold;" Gothic sigis, Old High German sigu, Old Norse sigr, Old English sige "victory").

The sense "program of action" first is attested 1640s. Unfavorable overtones (selfish, devious) began to creep in early 18c. Meaning "complex unity of coordinated component elements" is from 1736. Color scheme is attested from 1884.

v.

"devise a scheme," 1767 (earlier "reduce to a scheme," 1716), from scheme (n.). Related: Schemed; scheming.

scheme in Technology
programming
(Originally "Schemer", by analogy with Planner and Conniver). A small, uniform Lisp dialect with clean semantics, developed initially by Guy Steele and Gerald Sussman in 1975. Scheme uses applicative order reduction and lexical scope. It treats both functions and continuations as first-class objects.
One of the most used implementations is DrScheme, others include Bigloo, Elk, Liar, Orbit, Scheme86 (Indiana U), SCM, MacScheme (Semantic Microsystems), PC Scheme (TI), MIT Scheme, and T.
See also Kamin's interpreters, PSD, PseudoScheme, Schematik, Scheme Repository, STk, syntax-case, Tiny Clos, Paradigms of AI Programming.
There have been a series of revisions of the report defining Scheme, known as RRS (Revised Report on Scheme), R2RS (Revised Revised Report ..), R3RS, R3.99RS, R4RS.
Scheme resources (https://schemers.org/).
Mailing list: scheme@mc.lcs.mit.edu.
[IEEE P1178-1990, "IEEE Standard for the Scheme Programming Language", ISBN 1-55937-125-0].
(2003-09-14)
Idioms and Phrases with scheme

scheme

see: best-laid plans (schemes)