scherzo

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)kerǝd-“to dance, jump”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*skertaną“to hop, jump”
3. Lombardic · derived from*skerzan“to jump merrily, enjoy oneself, jest”
4. Italian · borrowed fromscherzo“joke, play”
5. English todayscherzo

Borrowed from Italian scherzo (“joke, play”), from scherzare (“to joke, jest”), from Lombardic *skerzan (“to jump merrily, enjoy oneself, jest”), from Proto-Germanic *skertaną (“to hop, jump”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerǝd- (“to dance, jump”). Akin to Middle High German scherzen (“to frolic, jump merrily, hop up and down”) (modern German scherzen (“to joke”), Scherz), Norwegian skjerta (“to joke”).