# scheme

> English word · Noun · IPA /skiːm/ · frequency rank #2,643

## Definitions
1. An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words.
2. A representation of the aspects of the celestial bodies for any moment or at a given event.
3. A systematic plan of future action.
4. A plot or secret, devious plan.
5. An orderly combination of related parts.
6. A chart or diagram of a system or object.
7. A mathematical structure that generalizes the notion of an algebraic variety in several ways, such as taking account of multiplicities and allowing "varieties" defined over any commutative ring. Formally, a locally ringed space that admits a covering by open sets, each of which is isomorphic to an affine scheme (i.e. the spectrum of some commutative ring).
8. A council housing estate.
9. Part of a uniform resource identifier indicating the protocol or other purpose, such as http: or news:.
10. A portfolio of pension plans with related benefits comprising multiple independent members.

## Etymology
From late Middle English scheame, from Medieval Latin schēma (“figure, form”), from Ancient Greek σχῆμα (skhêma, “form, shape”), from ἔχω (ékhō, “I hold”). Doublet of schema. Compare sketch.

## Easily confused with
- **Shem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scheme-vs-shem)
- **shame** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scheme-vs-shame)
- **sphere** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scheme-vs-sphere)
- **schemes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scheme-vs-schemes)
- **Schumer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scheme-vs-schumer)
- **scene** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scene-vs-scheme)
- **schema** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/schema-vs-scheme)
- **Scheer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scheer-vs-scheme)

## Common misspellings (9)
`csheme`, `sccheme`, `scehme`, `scheem`, `schemme`, `schheme`, `schmee`, `shceme`, `sscheme`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/scheme