English

Noun

surprize ‎(plural surprizes)

1. (now rare and nonstandard) Alternative spelling of surprise
   • 1792, Ann Ward Radcliffe, A Sicilian Romance, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2005:

     Ferdinand not yet recovered from the painful surprize

   • 2011, William Francis Patrick Napier, quoting Charle Napier, 1813, The Life and Opinions of General Sir Charles James Napier, G.C.B., Cambridge Univ. Press, ISBN 9781108027205, page 236:

     Guard well against surprize; to be surprized is inexcusable in a general, if it happens from his neglect of proper posts: if his troops are surprized in good posts they must be in a dreadful state, which can hardly be the fault of any one but the general.

Verb

surprize ‎(third-person singular simple present surprizes, present participle surprizing, simple past and past participle surprized)

1. (now rare and nonstandard) Alternative spelling of surprise
   • 1789, Ann Ward Radcliffe, The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne, HTML edition:

     Surprized at the bold independence of these words, delivered with uncommon energy, the heart of Osbert beat quick

   • 1813, John Elihu Hall, The American Law Journal, Volume 4 (Law), Digitized edition, WP Farrand and Co., published 2010, page 326:

     Will he be surprized that such a diversity of sentiment rendered … And will he be surprized, that mutual concessions … need we be surprized tat the stream …

   • 2006 May 24, Mark Hancock, “Todd Heisler interview Part C”, in PhotoJournalism, retrieved 2012-09-14:

     … they were kind of surprized that the elders would let me take pictures.

Usage notes

The z spelling was as common as the s spelling into the early 1700s, but has been rare ever since, and is now nonstandard.

References

• Merriam-Webster Dictionary, surprize