punctuate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin punctuare (“to mark with points”), from Latin punctus, perfect passive participle of pungō (“I prick, punch”); see point, and compare punch and punctate.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpʌŋktjuːeɪt/

  • Audio (RP)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): [ˈpʌŋkʃuːeɪt]

Verb

punctuate (third-person singular simple present punctuates, present participle punctuating, simple past and past participle punctuated)

1. (transitive) To add punctuation to.

   That occurrence of "its" needs to be punctuated as "it's".

2. (transitive) To add or to interrupt at regular intervals.

   My father punctuated his tirade with thumps on the desk.

   • 2020 October 15, Frank Pasquale, “‘Machines set loose to slaughter’: the dangerous rise of military AI”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Most soldiers would testify that the everyday experience of war is long stretches of boredom punctuated by sudden, terrifying spells of disorder.

3. (transitive) To emphasize; to stress.

Related terms

• point

• punctilious

• punctual

• punctuality

• punctuation

Translations

add punctuation to

• Catalan: puntuar (ca)
• French: ponctuer (fr)
• German: interpunktieren (de)
• Ido: puntuar (io)

• Italian: interpungere
• Spanish: puntuar (es)
• Swedish: interpunktera (sv)

add or interrupt at regular intervals

emphasize, stress — see emphasize

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: interpungere

Further reading

• punctuate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• punctuate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

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Latin

Verb

pūnctuāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of pūnctuō