Etymology

skirmish

skir·mish
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Today it means: A brief battle between small groups, usually part of a longer or larger battle or war. Full definition →

Middle English skirmish ← Old French escarmouche ← Italian scaramuccia
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The story

  1. Italian · derived fromscaramuccia
  2. Old French · derived fromescarmouche“skirmish”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromskirmish
  4. English todayskirmish

From Middle English skirmish (as a verb), from Old French escarmouche (“skirmish”), from Italian scaramuccia, earlier schermugio. Doublet of escarmouche, Scaramouche, and Scaramucci.

Words from the same roots

Italianscaramuccia all →

scaramoucheskomorokh

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.