▪ I. skene1 Now Hist. or arch.
(skiːn)
Forms: α. 6–7 skayne (6 scayne), skaine, 8 skane. β. 6–7 (9) skeyne, 6 skeyn, 6–7 skeine, 7– skein. γ. 6–7, 9 skene (7 skine), 7–8 skeen (7 -e), 9 skien. δ. 6–7 skeane, 7– skean. ε. 8–9 skian.
[a. Irish (and Sc.) Gaelic scian, sgian (genitive sceine, scine) knife (cf. W. ysgien). The α and β forms prob. represent the Gaelic ones with ei, and the others those with ia or i.]
1. A form of knife or dagger, in former times one of the chief weapons of the Irish kerns, and also in use among the Scottish Highlanders.
The word was also loosely applied by writers of the 16th and 17th centuries to a dagger or small sword of any kind.
| α 1527 Will of Bolde (Somerset Ho.), My blak sattyn doblet, my skayne, & a paire of blak hoses. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V, 60, xvi. hundreth Ireshmen armed in mayle with dartes and skaynes after the maner of their countrey. 1567 Golding Ovid's Met. v. 220 Persey thrust him through the hart with Hermes hooked skaine. 1600 Holland Livy xxii. xlviii. 461 Short daggers or skaines hidden under their cuirasse and harnesse. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxii. 1579 For their weapons [they] had but Irish Skaines and Darts. 1735 Phil. Trans. XL. 426, I was called to Thomas Conway, who had received a Wound with a Skane or great Knife. |
| β 1530 Palsgr. 271/1 Skeyne a knyfe. 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices iii. (1540) 128 Therof rose bearyng of skeynes and murdrers. 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 42/2 The bill against the spar, and the sword against the skeine. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 431 A certaine shag-haired fellow..drawing out his skeine or short curtle⁓axe. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Kent ii. 74 To him all the Irish Nobility made their solemn submission.., laying aside their Girdles, Skeines, and Caps. 1750 Carte Hist. Eng. II. 828 The Irish were armed only with darts and skeins. 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos I. xxii. (1877) 160 Melachlin sent with her..sixteen young men armed with skeynes, or long knives. 1872 Ellacombe Bells of Ch. in Ch. Bells Devon vii. 181 They were found in a bog..along with a variety of skeynes, celts,..and other relics of antiquity. |
| γ 1592 Kyd Sol. & Pers. i. iii. 22 Against the light foote Irish haue I serued, And in my skinne bare tokens of their skenes. 1606 Holland Sueton. Annot. 15 Caivs..was stabbed treacherously with a knife or short skeene. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. ii. xiii. (1821) 143 Whereupon with their skenes they instantly murdered him in the place. c 1680 in Somers Tracts (1748) II. 254 They kill'd poor Infants,..tossing some upon their Swords, Skeens, and other Instruments of Cruelty. 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. ix. (1737) 34 Poinadoes, Skenes, Penknives, Puncheons. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xvii, A stout soldier before he was so mangled by the skenes of the Irish clan MacDonough. 1865 Kingsley Herew. iv, Their black skenes and light darts were no match for the Danish swords and battle-axes. 1895 Sir H. Maxwell Duke of Britain viii. 106 A short skene in his belt. |
| δ 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 631/2 He may under his mantell goe privilye armed,..carrying his head⁓peece, his skeane, or pistoll yf he please. 1600 Holland Livy vii. Arg. 249 The young man..drew his skeane and forced him to sweare unto him. 1646 Vicars Parl. Chron. iv. 163 Inhumane whores, with Skeans or long Irish knives about them. 1690 J. Mackenzie Siege London-Derry 2/2 Not only the Men, but the Women and Boys too began to furnish themselves with skeanes, and half-pikes. 1720 Swift Irish Feast in Misc. (1735) V. 16 They rise from their Feast, And hot are their Brains, A Cubit at least The Length of their Skeans. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 156 The very women were exhorted by their spiritual directors to carry skeans. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 275/1 The good claymores, the dirks, skeans, and pistols. |
| ε 1774 D. Graham Hist. Reb. Writ. 1883 I. 135 With durks and skians they fell a sticking. 1878 A. Hume Antrim Dial. 23 (E.D.D.), There is no appearance of a skian or any other weapon. 1897 A. Lang Pickle the Spy 6 Well knowing that the skian was sharpened for his throat if he were detected. |
2. a. skene-dhu [Gael. sgian dubh black knife], a small dagger carried by Highlanders (now only as an ornament), frequently thrust into the stocking.
| 1819 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1839) III. 353 A very formidable knife which when opened becomes a sort of skene-dhu or dagger. 1874 R. Tyrwhitt Our Sketching Club 37, I..struck him [a deer] just right with the skean-dhu at the root of the neck. 1897 A. L. Humphreys Private Libr. (ed. 2) 16 Some employ mediaeval daggers, or skene dhus, but the edges spoil a book. |
b. skene-ochles, skene-ochil, skene-occle [Gael. achlais armpit]: (see quot. 1754).
| 1754 Burt Lett. N. Scotl. (1818) II. 119 Some of them carry a sort of knife which they call a skeen-ochles from its being concealed in the sleeve near the arm-pit. 1814 Scott Wav. xxix, Her ain sell..could..kittle his quarters wi' her skene-occle. 1828 ― F.M. Perth ii, The skene-occle is an ugly weapon. 1829 Hogg Sheph. Cal. xiii, So saying, the beldam plunged a skeinochil into my breast. |
▪ II. skene, n.3 Theatr.
(ˈskiːnɪ)
[a. Gr. σκηνή hut, tent: see scene n.]
In ancient Greek theatre, a three-dimensional structure or building forming part of the scene (scene n. 1), which provided a background to the performance and could be decorated according to the theme of the play; a stage-building.
| 1899 P. Gardner in Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. XIX. 257 Agatharchus..could paint the front of the skênê to look like a palace with pillars and cornices. 1929 D. S. Robertson Handbk. Greek & Roman Archit. xvi. 271 The Greek theatre, consisted..of two quite separate parts, a high auditorium..and a much lower stage-building, or skene. 1939 M. Bieber Hist. Greek & Roman Theater v. 123 The northern wall..of the hall..was used as early as the beginning of the fifth century as the back of the wooden skene, and as early as the end of the same century as the back of the stone skene. 1962 P. D. Arnott Greek Scenic Conventions 5th Cent. B.C. i. 5 A skene of some sort would have been needed by the actors, to serve as a changing room and provide a focal point for entrances. 1986 Hesperia (U.S.) LV. iv. 423 The 4th-century skene..consisted of a long central building with projecting paraskenia and lateral wings at either end. |
▪ III. skene
variant of scheme n.2, skein.