The term skirmish was first introduced in English literature in the 1374 Chaucer epic Troilus and Criseyde, spelled as skarmuch. Over time, various spellings emerged such as skarmoch, scaramosh, scarmoge, scarmouch, skarmyssh, skarmish, scarmysshe, skarmich, skyrmissh, skyrmysh, skermysche, skermish, skermedge, and many more, until skirmish became the standardized spelling in the nineteenth century. The word has its roots in Old French escarmouche, which can be traced back to the Italian scaramuccia. Fans of Queen may recognize this as the inspiration for the name Scaramouche, meaning “little skirmisher” and originating from 1500s Italian comedies as a stock clown character. Originally, scaramuccia was known as schermugio, believed to have derived from the Proto-Indo-European sker, meaning “to cut”, in reference to defense.
