punctus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpuːŋk.tʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpuŋk.tus]^[1]

Forms

pūnctus m (genitive pūnctūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin pungō (“to prick, sting”) + -tus.^[2][1] The verb is inherited from Proto-Italic *pung- (“to pierce, sting”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pu-n(e)-g-, cognate with Ancient Greek πύξ (púx, “with the fist”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder uses it of eyes put out by pricking.^[4][5] Köbler dates Pliny 23/24–79 AD.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a pricking or stinging, a prick or puncture, and Pliny also uses it of a point.^[2][4] Isidore has a second-declension form punctus meaning a point, and in Late and New Latin it was a mathematical point.^[5][1]

In medieval Latin it was a division of an hour, a quarter or a fifth,^[7] and a punctuation mark.^[1]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of pricking.^[4][6]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore uses punctus of a point.^[5][6]
• Middle Ages – It is used of a division of an hour.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pricking, sting, puncture.^[2][4]
2. A point.^[4][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A division of an hour.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) A punctuation mark.^[1]

Related words

• punctim
• punctiō
• punctiuncula
• punctūra
• pungō
• punctum
• English point
• English puncture
• English counterpoint

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill