screen
n. countablen. the flat surface on a television, computer, or phone where you see images and words.
n. the flat surface of an electronic display device upon which images and data are projected. Also refers to the physical barrier used to protect or divide a space.
I cracked the screen on my new phone.
The teacher asked the students to look at the screen for the next slide of the presentation.
Modern smartphones use high-resolution screens that remain legible even under direct sunlight, a significant advancement over the liquid crystal displays of previous decades.
From Middle English scren, screne (“windscreen, firescreen”), from Anglo-Norman escren (“firescreen, the tester of a bed”), Old French escren, escrein, escran (modern French écran (“screen”)), from Middle Dutch scherm, from Old Dutch skirm, from Proto-West Germanic skirmi, from Proto-Germanic skirmiz (“fur, shelter, covering, screen”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut, divide”). Cognate with Dutch scherm (“screen”), German Schirm (“screen”). Doublet of scherm. An alternative etymology derives Old French escren, escran from Old Dutch scranc (“barrier”) (compare Middle Dutch schranc, schranke (“palisade, trellis, grid”), German Schrank (“cupboard, cabinet”), German Schranke (“fence”)), from Proto-West Germanic skrank, from Proto-Germanic *skrankaz.
Often used as a modifier in compound nouns like 'computer screen' or 'movie screen'.