Where does “scherzo” come from?
Scherzo comes from Italian scherzare, derived from Lombardic skerzan.
scherzo (English): A piece of music or a movement from a larger...
Definitions
- A piece of music or a movement from a larger...
Ancestry of “scherzo”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italian | scherzo | joke, jest, trick, hoax, frolic; joke, trifle,... |
| 2 | Italian | scherzare | to joke, kid, jest, frolic, be funny; to gamble,... |
| 3 | Lombardic | skerzan | to jump merrily, enjoy oneself, jest |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | skertaną | to cut off; to leap, jump, spring; to jest, joke |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kerǝd- | to dance, jump |