quiz

== English == === Etymology === Attested since the 1780s, of unknown origin. The Century Dictionary suggests it was originally applied to a popular toy, from a dialectal variant of whiz. The Random House Dictionary suggests the original sense was "odd person" (circa 1780). Others suggest the meaning "hoax" was original (1796), shifting to the meaning "interrogate" (1847) under the influence of question and inquisitive. Some say without evidence it was invented by a late-18th-century Dublin theatre proprietor who bet he could add a new nonsense word to the English language; he had the word painted on walls all over the city, and the morning after, everyone was talking about it (The Pre-Victorian Drama in Dublin ). Others suggest it was originally quies (1847), Latin qui es? (who are you?), traditionally the first question in oral Latin exams. They suggest that it was first used as a noun from 1867, and the spelling quiz first recorded in 1886, but this is demonstrably incorrect. A further derivation, assuming that the original sense is "good, ingenuous, harmless man, overly conventional, pedantic, rule-bound man, square; nerd; oddball, eccentric", is based on a column from 1785 which claims that the origin is a jocular translation of the Horace quotation vir bonus est quis as "the good man is a quiz" at Cambridge. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /kwɪz/, [kʰw̥ɪz] Rhymes: -ɪz === Noun === quiz (plural quizzes) (dated) An odd, puzzling or absurd person or thing. (dated) One who questions or interrogates; a prying person. A competition in the answering of questions. (education) A school examination of less importance, or of greater brevity, than others given in the same course. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === quiz (third-person singular simple present quizzes, present participle quizzing, simple past and past participle quizzed) (transitive, archaic) To hoax; to chaff or mock with pretended seriousness of discourse; to make sport of, as by obscure questions. (transitive, archaic) To peer at; to eye suspiciously or mockingly. (transitive) To question (someone) closely, to interrogate. (transitive) To instruct (someone) by means of a quiz. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To play with a quiz. (Can we add an example for this sense?) ==== Derived terms ==== quizzable ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “quiz”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. == Danish == === Etymology === Borrowed from English quiz. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /kvis/, [kʰvis] Homophone: quiz' === Noun === quiz c (singular definite quizzen, plural indefinite quizzer) quiz (competition in the answering of questions) ==== Inflection ==== ==== Related terms ==== quizze ("to quiz") == Dutch == === Alternative forms === kwis === Etymology === Borrowed from English quiz === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /kʋɪs/ Rhymes: -ɪs === Noun === quiz m (plural quizzen, diminutive quizje n) quiz ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== == French == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /kwiz/ === Noun === quiz m (uncountable) quiz == Italian == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈkwit͡s/* Rhymes: -its Hyphenation: quìz === Noun === quiz m (invariable) quiz ==== Derived terms ==== telequiz == Norman == === Etymology === Borrowed from English quiz. === Noun === quiz m (plural quizs) (Jersey) quiz == Polish == === Alternative forms === kwiz === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English quiz. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈkwis/ Rhymes: -is Syllabification: quiz === Noun === quiz m inan quiz (competition in the answering of questions) Synonym: zgaduj-zgadula ==== Declension ==== ==== Derived terms ==== === Further reading === “quiz”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[6] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN “quiz”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[7] (in Polish) == Portuguese == === Etymology 1 === Unadapted borrowing from English quiz. ==== Pronunciation ==== ==== Noun ==== quiz m (plural quizzes or quizes) quiz (question-answering competition) === Etymology 2 === ==== Verb ==== quiz obsolete spelling of quis === Further reading === “quiz”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026 == Spanish == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English quiz. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈkwis/ [ˈkwis] Rhymes: -is IPA(key): /ˈkiθ/ [ˈkiθ] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain) IPA(key): /ˈkis/ [ˈkis] (Latin America, Philippines) Rhymes: -iθ (Equatorial Guinea, Spain) Rhymes: -is (Latin America, Philippines) Syllabification: quiz === Noun === quiz m (plural quizzes) (television) quiz show ==== Usage notes ==== According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed. === Further reading === “quiz”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010