scrimmage (n.)
late 15c., "a battle," a sense now obsolete, an alteration of skirmish (n.). Sometimes also scrummage, scrimish (16c.). By 1780 as "a confused contest, a tussle;" the meaning in rugby and U.S. football dates from 1857, originally "a confused, close struggle around the ball between players." The sense of "a practice session in which offensive and defensive squads square off" is by 1916.
Entries linking to scrimmage
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.
1888, "a scrimmage in rugby," abbreviation of scrummage, a variant form of scrimmage (n.). The transferred sense of "continued noisy throng" is by 1950.
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."
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updated on March 02, 2022