Ven. schena / schina

Abstract

The term schena / schina ‘measure of length in use in the field of cloth trade’ mainly appears in Venetian sources. The meaning derives from the special terminology of cloth manufacturing, where schena / schina refer to the centre of the surface of the cloth and to its central vertical fold. So far the etymology has not yet been explicitly and convincingly explained. In consideration of the material history of cloth production, the respective terminology, the equivalents in other languages and the forms of the word (schena, schina, schiena, ischiena), however, there is no doubt that the Venetian group has the same origin as It. schiena ‘back’.