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Webster 1913 Edition

Scherzo

‖

Scher′zo

,
Noun.
[It.]
(Mus.)
A playful, humorous movement, commonly in 3-4 measure, which often takes the place of the old minuet and trio in a sonata or a symphony.

Definition 2024

scherzo

scherzo

See also: scherzò

English

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

See also

Italian

Etymology

From scherzare "to joke, play, jest" from Old Italian scherzare, a borrowing from Lombardic *skerzan "to jump merrily, enjoy oneself, jest" from Proto-Germanic *skirtaną ‎(“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): /ˈskertso/

Noun

scherzo m ‎(plural scherzi)

  1. joke, jest, trick, hoax, frolic
  2. (something easy to do) joke, trifle, cinch
  3. (music) scherzo

Related terms

Verb

scherzo

  1. first-person singular present indicative of scherzare

Etymology

From Italian scherzo ‎(“joke, play”), from scherzare ‎(“to joke, jest”) from Old Italian scherzare, from Lombardic *skerzan ‎(“to jump merrily, enjoy oneself, jest”) from Proto-Germanic *skirtaną ‎(“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): /ˈskɛːtsəʊ/

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