scenic

Scenic is a term with several related uses. As an adjective, scenic describes landscapes, routes, or settings that are visually pleasing or picturesque. The word relates to scenery and commonly appears in travel writing, tourism, and landscape descriptions. Etymologically, scenic derives from the concept of scenery and entered English via Old French and Latin roots, with the -ic suffix marking an adjective.

In geography and tourism, scenic is used to label areas or routes noted for their beauty, such as scenic byways or scenic overlooks. Governments and tourism boards designate certain roads as scenic to promote travel and conservation, and such designations are common in countries including the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe. Scenic also appears in the names of parks, trails, and viewpoints.

In theatre and film, scenic refers to aspects of stage or set design—scenic elements, backdrops, and props that create the visual environment in a production.

In technology, Scenic is also used as a proper name for several software projects, including a domain-specific language and toolkit for describing and rendering driving scenes for synthetic data generation and research in autonomous systems.

See also: scenery, scenic byway, stage design, virtual environment.