An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Schemen

by Friedrich Kluge

Schemen, masculine, ‘phantom,’ from Middle High German schëme, masculine, ‘shadow,’(Middle German) schime; compare Anglo-Saxon sčī̆ma, Old Saxon scī̆mo. Allied to the root skī̆, ‘to glitter,’ discussed under scheinen, with which Greek σκιά, ‘shadow,’ with the same evolution in meaning, is also connected; see Schimmer and Schönbartspiel.