Word Origins From Literature Trivia Quiz Questions

A quiz about words that came from authors, books, or literature.

Words with Character

Let's see if you know where certain words, many based on proper names, come from. All of the numbered words in the left-hand column were coined by an author listed in the alphabetized right-hand column. Can you match the name of the author with the word he coined, as well as give the title of the author's work in which the word appeared?

If you get 4 correct, that's Fair. Anywhere between 5 and 8 correct is Very Good. Between 9 and 12 correct is Excellent. Between 13 and 16 correct--well, your name deserves to become a word.

1. stentorian ( ) a. Karel Capek

2. quixotic ( ) b. Miguel de Cervantes

3. malapropism ( ) c. Charles Dickens

4. gargantuan ( ) d. Homer

5. scrooge ( ) e. Ben Jonson

6. lilliputian ( ) f. Sinclair Lewis

7. ogre ( ) g. Moliere (Jean Baptiste Poquelin)

8. lothario ( ) h. Charles Perrault

9. Babbitt ( ) i. Eleanor H. Porter

10. serendipity ( ) j. Francois Rabelais

11. moron ( ) k. Nicolas Rowe

12. Frankenstein ( ) l.Mary Shelley

13. vulpine ( ) m. Richard Sheridan

14. schlemihl ( ) n. Jonathan Swift

15. Pollyanna ( ) o. Adelbert von Chamisso

16. robot ( ) p. Horace Walpole

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