scherzo

English · Français · Italiano · Română

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

scherzo

/ˈskɛətsəʊ/ UK
/ˈskɜːt-/ UK
/ˈskɛəɹ(ˌ)tsoʊ/ US
/ˈskɛəɹtˌsoʊ/ US

Rhymes with -ɛəɹtsəʊ, -ɜː(ɹ)tsəʊ, -ɛə(ɹ)tsəʊ

Where it comes from

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”).

noun scherzos · scherzi

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

Translations

Every language

noun music

한국어	스케르초 seukereucho
日本語	スケルツォ sukerutso, 諧謔曲 kaigyakukyoku
中文	諧謔曲 /谐谑曲 xiéxüèqǔ, 詼諧曲 /诙谐曲 huīxiéqǔ
Português	scherzo
Français	scherzo
Deutsch	Scherzo
Italiano	scherzo
Română	scherzo
Русский	ске́рцо skérco

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"scherzo." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/scherzo. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

scherzo. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/scherzo

Chicago

"scherzo." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/scherzo.

BibTeX

@misc{scherzo_2026,
  title = {scherzo},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/scherzo},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}