Standard Lemma guide

scherzo

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈskɛətsəʊ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈskɜːt-/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: skĕrʹtsō '
  • General-American: skĕrtʹsō '
  • General-American: /ˈskɛəɹ(ˌ)tsoʊ/
  • General-American: /ˈskɛəɹtˌsoʊ/
  • rhymes with -ɛəɹtsəʊ
  • rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)tsəʊ
  • rhymes with -ɛə(ɹ)tsəʊ

1

noun

Meaning 1

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a fast movement (usually in triple time)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: movement

History

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”).

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: ске́рцо (skérco) — music
  • Chinese Mandarin: 諧謔曲 /谐谑曲 (xiéxüèqǔ) — music
  • Chinese Mandarin: 詼諧曲 /诙谐曲 (huīxiéqǔ) — music
  • French: scherzo — music
  • German: Scherzo — music
  • Italian: scherzo — music
  • Japanese: スケルツォ (sukerutso) — music
  • Japanese: 諧謔曲 (kaigyakukyoku) — music
  • Kazakh: скерцо (skerso) — music
  • Korean: 스케르초 (seukereucho) — music
  • Iranian Persian: اِسْکِرْتْسو (eskertso) — music
  • Polish: scherzo — music
  • Portuguese: scherzo — music
  • Romanian: scherzo — music
  • Russian: ске́рцо (skérco) — music
  • Ukrainian: ске́рцо (skérco) — music
  • Uzbek: skerso — music