scherzo

See also: scherzò and Scherzo

English

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈskɛətsəʊ/, /ˈskɜːt-/
• (General American) enPR: skĕrʹtsō('), skĕrtʹsō('), IPA^(key): /ˈskɛəɹ(ˌ)tsoʊ/, /ˈskɛəɹtˌsoʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɛəɹtsəʊ, -ɜː(ɹ)tsəʊ, -ɛə(ɹ)tsəʊ
• Hyphenation: scher‧zo

Noun

scherzo (plural scherzos or scherzi)

1. (music) A piece of music or a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony; especially, a piece of music played in a playful manner.
   • 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers:

     At seven Val knocked – three shorts and one long, out of the scherzo of Beethoven’s Fifth – and I rushed to open.

Translations

music

• Bulgarian: ске́рцо n (skérco)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 諧謔曲／谐谑曲 (zh) (xiéxüèqǔ), 詼諧曲／诙谐曲 (zh) (huīxiéqǔ)

• German: Scherzo n
• Italian: scherzo (it)
• Japanese: スケルツォ (sukerutso), 諧謔曲 (かいぎゃくきょく, kaigyakukyoku)
• Kazakh: скерцо (skerso)
• Korean: 스케르초 (seukereucho)
• Persian: اسکرتسو‎
• Polish: scherzo (pl) n
• Portuguese: scherzo (pt) m
• Romanian: scherzo (ro) n
• Russian: ске́рцо (ru) n (skérco)

See also

• scherzando
• scherzino

Further reading

• scherzo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Noun

scherzo m (plural scherzos)

1. scherzo

Further reading

• “scherzo”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology 1

Deverbal from scherzare (“to joke, play, jest”) +‎ -o, from Old Italian scherzare, borrowed 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”) (German scherzen (“to joke”); Scherz (“joke, sport”)), Norwegian skjerta (“to joke”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsker.t͡so/
• Rhymes: -ertso
• Hyphenation: schér‧zo

Noun

scherzo m (plural scherzi)

1. joke, jest, trick, hoax, frolic

   Synonyms: beffa, battuta, derisione, scherno

2. (figurative) joke, trifle, cinch (something easy to do)
3. (music) scherzo (piece of music played in a playful manner)

Related terms

• scherzando
• scherzare
• scherzoso

Descendants

• → English: scherzo
• → German: Scherzo

Etymology 2

Verb

scherzo

1. first-person singular present indicative of scherzare

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Italian scherzo.

Noun

scherzo n (plural scherzouri)

1. scherzo

Declension

Declension of scherzo

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) scherzo	scherzoul	(niște) scherzouri	scherzourile
genitive/dative	(unui) scherzo	scherzoului	(unor) scherzouri	scherzourilor
vocative	scherzoule		scherzourilor