Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

scherzo

/ˈskɛəɹ(ˌ)tsoʊ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.18 in modern English

Syllables: scher-zo
IPA: /ˈskɛəɹ(ˌ)tsoʊ/

21

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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.

Example Sentences

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

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”).

Origin

Source language: Proto-Germanic

Word Breakdown

Root: *skerzan, *skertaną, *(s)kerǝd-

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈskɛəɹ(ˌ)tsoʊ/
British English: /ˈskɛətsəʊ/

Inflected Forms

scherzos (plural) scherzi (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

scherzando scherzino

Questions

How do you pronounce scherzo?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈskɛəɹ(ˌ)tsoʊ/.
What does scherzo mean?: 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.
Where does scherzo come from?: It is traced to Proto-Germanic.

How to pronounce scherzo

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “scherzo”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈskɛəɹ(ˌ)tsoʊ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “scherzo”.
Repeat and practice — Say “scherzo” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.