Meanings
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)kerǝd-“to dance, jump”
- Proto-Germanic*skertaną“to hop, jump”
- Lombardic*skerzan“to jump merrily, enjoy oneself, jest”
- Italianscherzo“joke, play”
- Englishscherzo
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”).
More words from Italian, Lombardic, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian ске́рцо
- ске́рцо (skérco)music
Chinese Mandarin 諧謔曲 /谐谑曲, 詼諧曲 /诙谐曲
- 諧謔曲 /谐谑曲 (xiéxüèqǔ)music
- 詼諧曲 /诙谐曲 (huīxiéqǔ)music
French scherzo
- scherzomusic
German Scherzo
- Scherzomusic
Italian scherzo
- scherzomusic
Japanese スケルツォ, 諧謔曲
- スケルツォ (sukerutso)music
- 諧謔曲 (kaigyakukyoku)music
Korean 스케르초
- 스케르초 (seukereucho)music
Polish scherzo
- scherzomusic
Portuguese scherzo
- scherzomusic
Romanian scherzo
- scherzomusic
Russian ске́рцо
- ске́рцо (skérco)music
Ukrainian ске́рцо
- ске́рцо (skérco)music
Cite this entry
scherzo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scherzo
“scherzo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scherzo. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scherzo,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scherzo.
Source: scherzo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.