Baretti: A dictionary of the English and Italian languages
Scherzá-re, v. n.
1. to play, to toy, to frolic.Scherza sempre come un fanciullo, he is always playing like a child; 2. to banter, jest, be in jest; 3. to fondle, play amorously. — in briglia, to cry famine in the midst of plenty. Scherza co'fanti, e lascia stare i santi, jest not with sacred things; s. m. Scherzá-tóre, f. Scherzá-tríce; adj.Scherzá-nte .
Florio: a worlde of wordes, or most copious, dictionarie in Italian and English