scherzo
scher·zo/ˈskɛəɹ(ˌ)tsoʊ/noun
scherzo is spelled S-C-H-E-R-Z-O: 7 letters and 2 syllables (scher·zo). It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 76,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, scherzo means “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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of scherzo is scherzos or scherzi.
How many letters and syllables are in scherzo?
| Letters | 7: S-C-H-E-R-Z-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: scher·zo |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 76,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is scherzo?
Scherzo appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 76,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scherzo?
- UK /ˈskɛətsəʊ/
- UK /ˈskɜːt-/
- US /ˈskɛəɹ(ˌ)tsoʊ/
Scherzo has 2 syllables, split scher·zo in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Pvanp7-scherzo.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of scherzo
- scherzos plural
- scherzi plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scherzo mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scherzo in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense music:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does scherzo come 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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).