Meaning

10 senses
  1. A fixture for a light, which holds it and provides a screen against wind or against a naked flame or lightbulb.

    Wandlampe, Wandleuchte, Wandleuchter

    браbra

    браbra

  2. A fixture for a light, which holds it and provides a screen against wind or against a naked flame or lightbulb.

    A candlestick (holder for a candle, especially a circular tube, with a brim, into which a candle is inserted), either with a handle for carrying, or with a bracket for attaching to a wall.

  3. A head or a skull.

  4. A poll tax; a mulct or fine.

  5. An act of sconcing (very similar to a fine at Cambridge University, though a sconce is the act of issuing a penalty rather than the penalty itself).

    Near-synonym: (Cambridge University slang) fine

  6. A type of small fort or other fortification, especially as built to defend a pass or ford.

    a small fort or earthwork defending a ford, pass, or castle gate

  7. A squinch.

  8. A fragment of a floe of ice.

  9. A fixed seat or shelf.

  10. (obsolete)A hut for protection and shelter; a stall.

    a shelter or screen providing protection from enemy fire or from the weather

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
light fixture on a wall:
Русский
By meaning 1
light fixture on a wall:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
light fixture on a wall:

Origin

From Middle English sconce, sconse (“candlestick or lantern (with screen)”), from Old Fren

From Middle English sconce, sconse (“candlestick or lantern (with screen)”), from Old French esconse (“lantern”), from Latin absconsus (“hidden”), perfect passive participle of abscondō (“hide”). Cognate with abscond.

Unclear. Perhaps a use of sconce (“light fixture”) or sconce (“fortification”), but seemingly older than the latter

Borrowed from Middle Dutch schans, cognate with German Schanze.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: sconces
Singularsconce
Pluralsconces

regular

Synonyms

2 synonyms

Word family

2 related words
Relatedabscond
Derivedensconce

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
sconce — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto