Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SCENE, n. [Fr. id.; L. scena; Gr. σκηνη, Heb. שבן, to dwell; Ch. to subside, to settle; Syr. to come or fall on; Ar. سَكَنَ sakana, to be firm, stable, quiet, to set or establish, to quiet or cause to rest. Class Gn, No. 43, 44. The Gr. word signifies a tent, hut or cottage. In L. it is an arbor or stage. The primary sense is to set or throw down.]

1. A stage; the theater or place where dramatic pieces and other shows are exhibited. It does not appear that the ancients changed the scenes in different parts of the play. Indeed the original scene for acting was an open plat of ground, shaded or slightly covered. – Encyc.
2. The whole series of actions and events connected and exhibited; or the whole assemblage of objects displayed at one view. Thus we say, the execution of a malefactor is a melancholy scene. The crucifixion of our Saviour was the most solemn scene ever presented to the view of man. We say also, a scene of sorrow or of rejoicing, a noble scene, a sylvan scene. A charming scene of nature is display'd. – Dryden.
3. A part of a play; a division of an act. A play is divided into acts, and acts are divided into scenes.
4. So much of an act of a play as represents what passes between the same persons in the same place. – Dryden.
5. The place represented by the stage. The scene was laid in the king's palace.
6. The curtain or hanging of a theater adapted to the play.
7. The place where any thing is exhibited. The world is a vast scene of strife. – J. M. Mason.
8. Any remarkable exhibition. The shepherds, while watching their flocks upon the plain of Bethlehem, were suddenly interrupted by one of the most sublime and surprising scenes which have ever been exhibited on earth. – W. D. Sprague.