escarmouche

See also: escarmouché

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French escarmouche. Doublet of skirmish and Scaramouche.

Noun

escarmouche (plural escarmouches)

1. (obsolete) A skirmish.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French escarmuche, from Old French escharmuche (“skirmish”), from Old Italian scaramuccia (“skirmish”), from Lombardic skirmen or Frankish *skirmijan (“to shelter”).

Cognate with Old High German skirmen, scirmen (“to shield, defend, protect”), skirm (“shade, protection”). More at skirmish, screen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛs.kaʁ.muʃ/
• Homophones: escarmouchent, escarmouches

Noun

escarmouche f (plural escarmouches)

1. skirmish; dispute
2. (military) skirmish (small combat)

Verb

escarmouche

1. inflection of escarmoucher:
   1. first-person singular/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Derived terms

• escarmoucher

See also

• escrime

Further reading

• “escarmouche”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.