Scaramouche

English

Etymology

From French Scaramouche, a character popularized in France by Tiberio Fiorilli. From Italian scaramuccia (“skirmish”). Doublet of escarmouche, Scaramucci, and skirmish.

Proper noun

Scaramouche

  1. A roguish clown character from the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte.

Noun

Scaramouche (plural Scaramouches)

  1. (obsolete, slang) A tumbler; an acrobat.
  2. (obsolete, slang) A disreputable fellow; a scoundrel.

References

  • John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary
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