Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “skirmish” come from?

Skirmish comes from Old French escarmouche, from Italian scaramuccia, from Italian schermugio, from Proto-West Germanic -jan, from Proto-Germanic skirmiz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker- and sek-, meaning to cut or separate.

skirmish (English): A brief battle between small groups, usually part...

Definitions

  1. A brief battle between small groups, usually part...

Ancestry of “skirmish”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchescarmoucheskirmish
2Italianscaramucciaskirmish; squabble; third-person singular present...
3Italianschermugio—

Words derived from “skirmish”

  • scrimmage
  • scrum
  • scrim
  • skirmisher
  • scrummage
  • scrumpox
  • scrummager
  • scrimmager
Every word from Italian schermugio →