Meaning and Plural of “Quiz”

Many people ask whether the “quiz” plural form is “quiz” or quizzes and if quizzes is a real word. Quiz is a noun that means a form of questioning, an eccentric, and a practical joke.

Generally, regular nouns usually take –s or –es in their plural forms, depending on the word's ending pattern. However, for words like “quiz,” there’s a “w” sound, vowel “I,” and a consonant in its pronunciation.

Thus, the last letter of the word “z” should be doubled, and since the Z can’t be followed by S right after it, we have to use the –es. The vowel in –es allows for a clear pronunciation of the word.

So, the plural form of the “quiz” is “quizzes.” The word is spelled with a double Z. Doubling the consonant is a typical English rule used to maintain the vowel as a monophthong. Consonants in words with short vowel sounds are usually doubled. Quizes shouldn’t be used as the plural form of the word quiz.

History of quiz

Quiz is believed to come from the Latin word “Qui es,” which means “who are you.” Initially, the word quiz was used as a joke or prank on another person. In the 1850’s it was used as a short test in schools for the first time.

Examples of the word in context

The teacher gave the students quizzes on the materials they studied in the previous month.

His father had to be a quiz and make fun of the characters in the narrative.