| Definitions | | quiz |
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noun (quizzes)
- A competition in the answering of questions.
verb (quiz, z, es)
- (transitive) (archaic) To hoax.
- (transitive) To question closely, to interrogate.
Etymology: The true etymology is unknown. The following have all been proposed:- Reputed without evidence to have been invented by a late 18th century Dublin theatre proprietor who bet he could add a new nonsense word to the English language. He thus had the word painted on walls all over the city. The morning after, everyone was talking about the new word.
- The original meaning is interrogation (1867), being derived from the verb. Current meaning only since 1941.
- The meaning "hoax" is the original (1796), shifting to the meaning "interrogate" (1847) under the influence of to question and inquisitive.
- Originally quies (1847), may have derived from Latin qui es? (who are you?), traditionally the first question in oral Latin exams. Used as a noun from 1867, spelling quiz first recorded in 1886.
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Full Definition of quiz
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