schema
7 synonyms and 0 antonyms for schema, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — An outline, plan or model showing how the parts of something fit together.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
An outline, plan or model showing how the parts of something fit together.
“The report sets out a schema for reorganising the department.”
2. noun psychology
A mental framework built from past experience that a person uses to organise and interpret new information.
“A child's schema for dog has to stretch the first time it meets a chihuahua.”
How to Use Schema
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Technical or academic; rare in casual speech.
Etymology
From Greek skhema "form, figure, appearance".
Full origin of schema →Frequently Asked Questions
What is the plural of schema?
Both schemas and schemata are correct. Schemas is now normal in computing and in general use; schemata survives mainly in psychology, philosophy and academic writing.
What is the difference between a schema and a database?
The database is the actual store of data; the schema is the blueprint describing its shape, saying which tables exist, what columns they hold and how they relate. In some systems, such as PostgreSQL, schema also names a namespace grouping tables inside one database.