scaramouche n.

late 14c., scarmuch, "irregular fight, especially between small numbers of soldiers," from Old French escarmouche "skirmish," from Italian scaramuccia, earlier schermugio. This is held to be probably from a Germanic source, with a diminutive or depreciatory suffix (see -ish), from Proto-Germanic *skirmjanan (compare Middle Dutch schermen "protect," Old High German scirmen "to protect, defend," German Schirm "umbrella," originally "leather protection on a shield"), from PIE root *sker- (1) "to cut."

It was influenced in Middle English by a different verb, skirmysshen, "to brandish a weapon," from Anglo-French eskirmiss-, stem of eskirmir "to fence," from Frankish *skirmjan, from the same Germanic source as the other word. An earlier verb in English was skirm (Middle English skirmen), c. 1200, "to fence, fight with a weapon, fight in small parties," from Anglo-French.

Compare scrimmage, which is a variant of it; for the form, compare rubbish. Other modern Germanic languages augment the diminutive with a second suffix: German scharmützel, Dutch schermutseling, Danish skjærmydsel. Skirmish-line "line of soldiers thrown out in advance of the main part of an army" is attested by 1864.

also *ker-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to cut."

It forms all or part of: bias; carnage; carnal; carnation; carnival; carnivorous; carrion; cenacle; charcuterie; charnel; corium; cortex; crone; cuirass; currier; curt; decorticate; excoriate; incarnadine; incarnate; incarnation; kirtle; scabbard; scar (n.2) "bare and broken rocky face of a cliff or mountain;" scaramouche; scarf (n.2) "connecting joint;" scarp; score; scrabble; scrap (n.1) "small piece;" scrape; screen; screw; scrimmage; scrofula; scrub (n.1) "low, stunted tree;" scurf; shard; share (n.1) "portion;" share (n.2) "iron blade of a plow;" sharp; shear; shears; sheer (adj.) "absolute, utter;" shirt; shore (n.) "land bordering a large body of water;" short; shrub; skerry; skirmish; skirt.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit krnati "hurts, wounds, kills," krntati "cuts;" Hittite karsh- "to cut off;" Greek keirein "to cut, shear;" Latin curtus "short," caro (genitive carnis) "flesh" (originally "piece of flesh"); Lithuanian skiriu, skirti "to separate;" Old English sceran, scieran "to cleave, hew, cut with a sharp instrument;" Old Irish scaraim "I separate;" Welsh ysgar "to separate," ysgyr "fragment."