Screen
/skriːn/noun
A flat or mesh surface used to divide, protect, display, or project images.
Did you know?The word’s history is split: the modern “screen” for a mesh barrier and the “screen” for showing images both descend through older meanings of a protective partition, not from any occult term.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sker-
“to cut, separate”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*skirmō
“a shield or protection”
Old French
OF
escran
“a shield; a protective screen or partition”
Middle English
ME
scren
“a shield, partition, or sheltering barrier”
Modern English
English
screen
“a partition, protective barrier, or display surface”