# Screens > [!noteinfo] > 17.10.2023 · [[Pantallas]] · [[Pantalles]] · [[Schermi]] · #language #device > **Screen**[^1] > > 1. Mid-14th c., from a Germanic source — probably Middle Dutch *scherm* 'screen, cover, shield', via Old North French *escren* / Old French *escran* 'fire-screen'; akin to Old High German *skirm, skerm* 'shield, protection', from Proto-Germanic *\*skirmjanan*, ultimately the PIE root *\*sker-* 'to cut'. > 2. Something that shelters, protects, separates, or conceals; a fixed or movable partition. > 3. A surface on which the images of a film or other projection are made to appear. > 4. In an electronic device, the surface on which images and data are displayed. What do our screens protect us from? [^1]: **Screen**, *Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary*, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/screen, and *Online Etymology Dictionary*, https://www.etymonline.com/word/screen (accessed 16 June 2026). Curiously, English *screen* and Italian *schermo* descend from the same Germanic root (*\*skirm-* 'shield, protection'), whereas Catalan and Spanish *pantalla* take a different, Romance route (probably an alteration of *ventalla* under the influence of *pàmpol*): at its root the word means protection, and each language screens the other.