[ku.do] n, pl kudos [back-formation fr. kudos (taken as a pl.)] (1926) 1: award, honor "a score of honorary degrees and ... other ~s --Time"
2: compliment, praise "to all three should go some kind of special ~ for refusing to succumb --Al Hine" usage Some commentators hold that since kudos is a singular word it cannot be used as a plural and that the word kudo is impossible. But kudo does exist; it is simply one of the most recent words created by back-formation from another word misunderstood as a plural. Kudos was introduced into English in the 19th century; it was used in contexts where a reader unfamiliar with Greek could not be sure whether it was singular or plural. By the 1920s it began to appear as a plural, and about 25 years later kudo began to appear. It may have begun as a misunderstanding, but then so did cherry and pea.