Kudos - Definition and Overview

Kudos (always singular, even though it looks like a plural) has two main meanings:

• "fame and renown resulting from an act or achievement; prestige" thus by logical extension is often used as a praising remark.
• A points system in the video game Metropolis Street Racer and its sequels Project Gotham Racing and Project Gotham Racing 2, whereby one accrues points by outstanding driving, including performing powerslides, overtaking, and "getting a good line around a corner".

Kudos is also the name of a successful television production company in the United Kingdom. See Kudos (production company).

The QDOS operating system was supposedly named so to sound as kudos.

Origin

Apparently the word originated from the Greek κυδος (kydos, meaning "magical glory") and entered English as British university slang in the early 1800s. Frequently used by Time magazine it came to America in the 1920s and 1930s.

See also: English plural