schema

noun

sche·​ma ˈskē-mə 

plural schemata ˈskē-mə-tə  also schemas

1

: a diagrammatic presentation

broadly : a structured framework or plan : outline

2

: a mental codification of experience that includes a particular organized way of perceiving cognitively and responding to a complex situation or set of stimuli

Examples of schema in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

However, the government wants to pass the policy proactively and is discussing the topic out of concern over how a detention center would affect the schema of local neighborhoods and affect the local economy. —Sofi Zeman february 8, Kansas City Star, 8 Feb. 2026

The ensuing density of pattern pressing against pattern animates a play of geometries and rhythms that links Keïta’s visual schemas to those of European abstraction. —Zoë Hopkins, New Yorker, 7 Feb. 2026

Include database schemas with specific field names and relationships. —Joe Toscano, Forbes.com, 20 Jan. 2026

The classic schema advanced by the likes of Hannah Arendt, as well as Carl Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzezinski, had no room for Iberia. —Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Greek schēmat-, schēma

First Known Use

circa 1890, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for schema

• cima
• pima
• prima
• rima
• sema
• sima
• thema
• edema
• extrema
• ulema
• emphysema
• empyema

Medical Definition

schema

noun

sche·​ma ˈskē-mə 

plural schemata -mət-ə  also schemas

1

: a nonconscious adjustment of the brain to the afferent impulses indicative of bodily posture that is a prerequisite of appropriate bodily movement and of spatial perception

2

: the organization of experience in the mind or brain that includes a particular organized way of perceiving cognitively and responding to a complex situation or set of stimuli