Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Scheme

Scheme , noun

[Latin schema a rhetorical figure, a shape, figure, manner, Greek {not transcribed}, {not transcribed}, form, shape, outline, plan, from {not transcribed}, {not transcribed}, to have or hold, to hold out, sustain, check, stop; compare Sanskrit sah to be victorious, to endure, to hold out, Anglo-Saxon sige victory, German sieg. Cf. Epoch, Hectic, School.]

1.
A combination of things connected and adjusted by design; a system.
The appearance and outward scheme of things. — Locke
Such a scheme of things as shall at once take in time and eternity. — Atterbury
Arguments... sufficient to support and demonstrate a whole scheme of moral philosophy. — J. Edwards
The Revolution came and changed his whole scheme of life. — Macaulay
2.
A plan or theory something to be done; a design; a project; as, to form a scheme.
The stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes. — Swift
3.
Any lineal or mathematical diagram; an outline.
To draw an exact scheme of Constantinople, or a map of France. — South
4.
(Astrology) A representation of the aspects of the celestial bodies for any moment or at a given event.
A blue silk case, from which was drawn a scheme of nativity. — Sir W. Scott
He forms the well-concerted scheme of mischief; 'T is fixed, 't is done, and both are doomed to death. — Rowe
Artists and plans relieved my solemn hours; I founded palaces, and planted bowers. — Prior

Scheme , transitive verb

To make a scheme of; to plan; to design; to project; to plot.
That wickedness which schemed, and executed, his destruction. — G. Stuart

Scheme , intransitive verb

To form a scheme or schemes.