Added 9 October 2026
schema
/ˈskiːmə/ noun
Latin root: schēma Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about schema at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- 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).
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A formal description of the structure of a database: the names of the tables, the names of the columns of each table, and the data type and other attributes of each column.
The database schema defines how the tables are organized.
- A formal description of data, data types, and data file structures, such as XML schemas for XML files.
Origin
Unadapted borrowing from Latin schēma, from Ancient Greek σχῆμα (skhêma, “form, shape”). Doublet of scheme.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)