An expression of praise or recognition for achievement. Often used in plural form 'kudos,' though technically kudos is already a singular Greek word meaning glory or praise.
From Greek 'kudos' meaning 'glory' or 'fame,' related to 'kydos' (magical glory). The singular 'kudo' is actually a back-formation from 'kudos,' which English speakers mistakenly treated as plural.
This is a fascinating case of linguistic back-formation - 'kudo' doesn't actually exist in Greek! English speakers heard 'kudos' and assumed it was plural, creating the singular 'kudo.' It's like if future speakers created 'mathematic' from 'mathematics.'
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