sconce

Meaning

Noun

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

Verb

1. (obsolete) To impose a fine, a forfeit, or a mulct.
2. During a meal or as part of a drinking game, to announce some (usually outrageous) deed such that anyone who has done it must drink; similar to I have never; commonly associated with crewdates; very similar to fining at Cambridge University.

Verb

to shut within a sconce; to imprison.

Synonyms

shelter

candlestick

bulwark

quick wits

quickness of wit

candle stick

screen

cap

casing

citadel

cote

cover

coverture

cowling

dugout

entrenchment

fastness

fortification

girandole

lamp-bracket

protect

protection

rampart

redoubt

refuge

safeguard

sense

shielding

stronghold

thawing

warming

wit

light fixture

bracket candlestick

ability

vallasion

aegis

asylum

bastion

blockhouse

buffer

candelabrum

Pronounced as (IPA)

/skɒns/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: sconce

Cognate with German: Schanze

In summary

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.