What is "quiz"

Quiz \Quiz\ (kw[i^]z), 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-four hours. 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\ (kw[i^]z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Quizzed (kw[i^]zd); p. pr. & vb. n. Quizzing (kw[i^]z"z[i^]ng).]

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\ (kw[i^]z), v. i. To conduct a quiz. See Quiz, n., 4. [U.S.]

1847, "to question," quies, perhaps from Latin qui es? "who are you?," first question in oral exams in Latin in old-time grammar schools. Spelling quiz first recorded 1886, though it was in use as a noun spelling from 1854, perhaps in this case from apparently unrelated slang word quiz "odd person" (1782, source of quizzical). Compare quisby "queer, not quite right; bankrupt" (slang from 1807). From the era of radio quiz shows comes quizzee (n.), 1940.

"brief examination of a student on some subject," 1852, perhaps from quiz (v.), or from slang quiz "odd person" (1782, perhaps originally university slang), via the notion of "schoolboy prank or joke played at the expense of a person deemed a quiz" (a noun sense attested frequently 1840s).\n\nA Quiz, in the common acceptation of the word, signifies one who thinks, speaks, or acts differently from the rest of the world in general. But, as manners and opinions are as various as mankind, it will be difficult to say who shall be termed a Quiz, and who shall not: each person indiscriminately applying the name of Quiz to every one who differs from himself ....

["The London Magazine," November, 1783]

[from "Etymology of Quiz," Charles Dibdin, 1842]

n. 1 Something designed to puzzle one or make one ridiculous; banter; raillery. 2 One who or that which quizzes. 3 (context dated English) An odd or absurd person or thing. 4 A competition in the answering of questions. 5 A school examination of less importance, or of greater brevity, than others given in the same course. vb. 1 (context transitive archaic English) To hoax; to chaff or mock with pretended seriousness of discourse; to make sport of, as by obscure questions. 2 (context transitive archaic English) To peer at; to eye suspiciously or mockingly. 3 (context transitive English) To question closely, to interrogate. 4 (context transitive English) To instruct by means of a quiz.

1. n. an examination consisting of a few short questions

2. [also: quizzing, quizzes, quizzed, quizzes (pl)]

1. v. examine someone's knowledge of something; "The teacher tests us every week"; "We got quizzed on French irregular verbs" [syn: test]

2. [also: quizzing, quizzes, quizzed, quizzes (pl)]

A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which the players (as individuals or in teams) attempt to answer questions correctly. In some countries, a quiz is also a brief assessment used in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, and/or skills.

Quizzes are usually scored in points and many quizzes are designed to determine a winner from a group of participants usually the participant with the highest score.

Quiz (1798–1826) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the classic St Leger Stakes in 1801. Quiz was a durable, top-class performer, winning at least once a year in racing career which lasted seven seasons from August 1801 until April 1807. Apart from the St Leger he won many other important races including three Brocket Hall Gold Cups (beating the Derby winner Eleanor on the third occasion), two Oatlands Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse, a Great Subscription Purse at York, a King's Plate and the Jockey Club Plate (defeating the St Leger winner Cockfighter). In all he won twenty-one times in thirty-six races for four different owners before being retired to stud, where he proved to be a successful sire of winners.

Quiz was a weekly newspaper published in Adelaide, South Australia from 1889 to 1910. From 1890 to 1900 it was known as Quiz and the Lantern.