ponta

Forms

ponta f (plural pontas)^[1] Houaiss records põta and puntas in the 15th century;^[2] the Miragres de Santiago also write põta.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin puncta (“a thrust, a stab”), written Old Galician-Portuguese ponta in the oldest texts.^[2][4][5][1] The Late Latin noun is the feminine of punctus, past participle of pungō (“to prick, to pierce”).^[2][6] Its masculine counterpart gave ponto.^[1][7]

The REW groups the same word with Italian punta, French pointe and Old Occitan poncha.^[7] The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“to prick”), and is related to pugnus (“fist”).^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are of the 13th century: the Cantigas de Santa Maria have nas pontas dos dedos da mão “on the tips of the fingers”, and a satirical cantiga of Alfonso X speaks of as pontas dos mantos “the corners of the cloaks”.^[3][2][4] The Crónica Troiana strikes a man da ponta da espada “with the point of the sword”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1789) lists the point of a sword, needle, dart or pyramid, the tip of a finger or of the tongue, the horns of an ox or deer (pontas), and a ponta de terra, a low strip of land running into the sea, which he distinguishes from a cabo.^[9] Bluteau gives the point of a dart or an arrow and the phrase ferir de ponta “to strike with the point”.^[10] Later senses include a little of something (uma ponta de febre), a cigarette butt, a small part for an actor, and the lead in a race.^[2]

Brazilian Portuguese has many more: Houaiss dates the plural pontas “headwaters of a river” to 1899, and records a small group of animals, a difficult passage in a river and, in football, each side of the field and the winger who plays there.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 1200s – first records, in the Cantigas de Santa Maria and a cantiga of Alfonso X.^[2][4][3]
• 1344 – cõ a ponta da espada in the Crónica Geral.^[3]
• 1416 – ponta in the Vida do Cativo Monge Confesso.^[11]
• 1400s – the spellings põta and puntas.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau lists ferir de ponta.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais defines ponta de terra.^[9]
• 1899 – first record of pontas “headwaters”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. tip, end; the extremity of anything: a ponta do fio.^[2][12][1]
2. A sharp end, a point: a ponta do prego.^[2][6][1]
3. A corner, an angle; the apex of something.^[2][12]
4. (in the plural) The horns of an animal.^[2][9]
5. A little, a touch: uma ponta de ironia.^[2]
6. A cigarette or cigar butt.^[2][1]
7. A cameo or bit part in a film, play or television programme.^[2][1]
8. The lead in a race.^[2]
9. (geography) ponta de terra: a narrow strip of land running into the sea; a headland.^[2][9]
10. (Brazil, football) Each side of the field;^[2][1] (masculine or feminine) a winger.^[2][1]
11. (Brazil, in the plural) The headwaters of a river or stream.^[2]

Word family

• apontar
• despontar
• pontada
• pontapé
• pontaria
• ponteira
• ponteiro
• pontudo
• pontinha
• ponta-cabeça

Related words

• ponto
• pungir
• punção
• Latin pungō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ponta
3. ^ a b c d e Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. ponta
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. ponta
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. ponta
6. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. ponta
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6847
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. pungō
9. ^ a b c d Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 215
10. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. ponta
11. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. ponta
12. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. ponta