What Does Quiz Mean?
Quiz has two main jobs.
- A noun: a short test or game of questions. We had a spelling quiz.
- A verb: to ask someone a lot of questions. The teacher quizzed us about the story.
I got nine out of ten on the quiz.
My sister quizzed me on my spelling words.
🔊 Pronunciation
KWIZ
It rhymes with fizz. The z is at the end of the word.
🗣️ Natural Examples
We have a quiz on Friday.
The class did a quick maths quiz.
Dad quizzed me on the planets.
It was a fun quiz, and nobody cared about the score.
They are quizzing each other before the test.
🛠️ How to Use It
Quiz is an everyday word.
- A quiz is usually shorter and lighter than an exam.
- Plural: quizzes. The z is doubled.
- Verb forms: quiz, quizzes, quizzed, quizzing.
- Say quiz someone on / about a topic: quiz me on my spelling.
🤝 Common Word Partners
- a pop quiz
- a spelling quiz
- a quiz show
- a quiz night
- take a quiz
- quiz someone on something
👯 Similar and Related Words
- test: a check of what you know. A quiz is usually shorter.
- exam: a bigger, more serious test.
- trivia: small facts. See Trivia.
- question: one thing you ask. A quiz has many.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Double the z in the plural.
❌ quizes
✅ quizzes
Use on or about.
❌ The teacher quizzed to me.
✅ The teacher quizzed me on the story.
Test or quiz?
❌ We have a quiz for the whole year.
✅ We have an exam for the whole year. A quiz is a short check.
💬 In a Conversation
Mia: Do you know where the word quiz comes from?
Sam: A man at a theatre made it up for a bet.
Mia: That is only a story.
Sam: Is it a quiz question?
Mia: Yes. The answer is false.
🕵️ Where Does It Come From?
Nobody knows for sure where quiz comes from. The earliest known examples are from 1780, and the word may have started as student slang. At first it meant an odd person or a joke. Later it meant to look at someone closely, and from around the mid-1800s it meant a test.
There is a famous story about a Dublin theatre owner named Richard Daly. In 1791, the tale says, he bet that he could make a new word known across the city in one day. He had children chalk the nonsense word quiz on walls everywhere.
It is a good story, but there is no evidence for it. The word was already being used before 1791. So the bet story is a myth.
💡 The OddLingo Trick
Remember the story, and remember that it is false.
The quiz bet is a good example of a word story that spreads because it is fun, not because it is true. And keep one more thing in mind: quizzes has two zs.