Etymograph

English

schema

Schema comes from Latin schēma ‘shape, figure, form, manner, posture’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- ‘to hold’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seǵʰ-1‘to hold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sǵʰ-éh₁-mn̥1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*skʰḗmə1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσχῆμα2skhêma‘form, shape’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEschēma2‘shape, figure, form, manner, posture’
  6. Englishtodayschema2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σχῆμα
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English schema

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seǵʰ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σχῆμα‘to hold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sǵʰ-éh₁-mn̥Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σχῆμαreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*skʰḗməWiktionary, Ancient Greek σχῆμαreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσχῆμαWiktionary, English schemaskhêma‘form, shape’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEschēmaWiktionary, English schema‘shape, figure, form, manner, posture’
  6. EnglishtodayschemaWiktionary, English schema

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- ‘to hold’

school, severe, sketch, severity, scholar, perseverance, hector, hectic, epoch, scholastic, shul, 23 more

Today it means

noun An outline or image universally applicable to a general conception, under which it is likely to be presented to the mind (for example, a body schema).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “schema”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek σχῆμα. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- / schema

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