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quiz - 6 dictionary results
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quiz
[kwiz] 
noun, plural quiz⋅zes, verb, quizzed, quiz⋅zing.–noun
| 1. | an informal test or examination of a student or class. |
| 2. | a questioning. |
| 3. | a practical joke; a hoax. |
| 4. | Chiefly British. an eccentric, often odd-looking person. |
–verb (used with object)
| 5. | to examine or test (a student or class) informally by questions. |
| 6. | to question closely: The police quizzed several suspects. |
| 7. | Chiefly British. to make fun of; ridicule; mock; chaff. |
Origin:
1775–85 in sense “odd person”; 1840–50 for def. 1; orig. uncert.
1775–85 in sense “odd person”; 1840–50 for def. 1; orig. uncert.
Related forms:
quiz⋅za⋅ble, adjective
quizzer, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To quiz
| quiz (kwĭz) tr.v. quizzed, quiz·zing, quiz·zes
[Origin unknown.] quiz'zer n. Word History: The origins of the word quiz are as difficult to pin down as the answers to some quizzes. We can say that its first recorded sense has to do with people, not tests. The term, first recorded in 1782, meant "an odd or eccentric person." From the noun in this sense came a verb meaning "to make sport or fun of" and "to regard mockingly." In English dialects and probably in American English the verb quiz acquired senses relating to interrogation and questioning. This presumably occurred because quiz was associated with question, inquisitive, or perhaps the English dialect verb quiset, "to question" (probably itself short for obsolete inquisite, "to investigate"). From this new area of meaning came the noun and verb senses all too familiar to students. The second recorded instance of the noun sense occurs in the writings of no less an educator than William James, who in a December 26, 1867, letter proffers the hope that "perhaps giving 'quizzes' in anatomy and physiology . . . may help along." |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Quiz
Quiz\, n. [It is said that Daly, the manager of a Dublin playhouse, laid a wager that a new word of no meaning should be the common talk and puzzle of the city in twenty-fours. In consequence of this the letters q u i z were chalked by him on all the walls of Dublin, with an effect that won the wager. Perhaps, however, originally a variant of whiz, and formerly the name of a popular game.]1. A riddle or obscure question; an enigma; a ridiculous hoax. 2. One who quizzes others; as, he is a great quiz. 3. An odd or absurd fellow. --Smart. Thackeray. 4. An exercise, or a course of exercises, conducted as a coaching or as an examination. [Cant, U.S.]Quiz
Quiz\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Quizzed; p. pr. & vb. n. Quizzing.]1. To puzzle; to banter; to chaff or mock with pretended seriousness of discourse; to make sport of, as by obscure questions. He quizzed unmercifully all the men in the room. --Thackeray. 2. To peer at; to eye suspiciously or mockingly. 3. To instruct in or by a quiz. See Quiz, n., 4. [U.S.] Quizzing glass, a small eyeglass.Quiz
Quiz\, v. i. To conduct a quiz. See Quiz, n., 4. [U.S.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : quiz
Spanish:
concurso de preguntas y respuestas,
German:
das Quiz,
Japanese:
クイズ
quiz
1847, quies, perhaps from L. qui es? "who are you?," first question in oral exams in L. in old-time grammar schools. Spelling quiz first recorded 1886, though it was in use as a noun from 1867, perhaps from apparently unrelated slang word quiz meaning "odd person" (1782, source of quizzical). The anecdote that credits this word to a bet by the Dublin theater-manager Daly that he could coin a word is regarded by authorities as "doubtful" and the first record of it appears to be in 1836 (in Smart's "Walker Remodelled"; the story is omitted in the edition of 1840).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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