punctum Latin · revision 3752

15 Oct 2026, 20:10 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Terence|origins=ine-pro *pu-n(e)-g-}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpuːŋk.tũː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpuŋk.tum]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''pūnctum''' ''n'' (genitive pūnctī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is the neuter of [[punctus|alt=pūnctus]], the participle of [[pungo|alt=pungō]] “to prick, pierce”, used as a noun.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The verb is [[inh|itc-pro|*pung-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*pu-n(e)-g/k-]].^(de Vaan 2008)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Köbler dates it from Terence (190–159 BC),^(Köbler 2010) whose slave says “I have a moment for this matter: my master is here”.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ Its literal sense was a prick or puncture, a small hole, as Vitruvius' holes in a water clock.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) A vote was recorded by pricking a wax tablet, so it also meant a vote, as Cicero's complaints that cost him votes, and in poetry approval.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ It meant a dot or spot, a speck, as Cicero's earth that looked like a point in the sky, and with ''temporis'' or alone an instant.^(OLD 2012) Grammar and mathematics used it for a point, and Medieval Latin for a musical note.^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) English ''point'' came partly from it through Old French about 1200.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a moment.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of votes and of a point in space.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of holes.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 1200 – English ''point'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A prick, [[m|en|puncture]], small hole.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A vote; approval.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A dot, spot.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A [[m|en|point]], speck.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''punctum temporis'': an [[m|en|instant]], moment.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A small portion.^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin, music)'' A note.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[en|point]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}