punctus

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Medieval Latin punctus (punctuation mark).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

punctus

  1. (palaeography) The basic dot (‧) used to end a sentence in medieval punctuation (ancestral to the full stop/period).
    • 1993, Malcolm Beckwith Parkes, Pause and Effect[1], Plates and Commentaries, page 197:
      In the sacerdotal prayers in col. a the punctuation is by punctus flexus, punctus elevatus and punctus.
    • 2011 July 22, Tadao Kudouchi, edited by Akio Oizumi and Jacek Fisiak, English Historical Linguistics and Philology in Japan[2], De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 172:
      The most common item of punctuation was the punctus or point.
    • 2015 August 31, “Medieval Manuscripts”, in Albrecht Classen, editor, Handbook of Medieval Culture[3], volume 2, De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 1015:
      Curiously, the punctus versus was largely replaced with a punctus by ca.1100.

See also[edit]

Latin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Perfect passive participle of pungō (I prick, puncture, punch).

Participle[edit]

pūnctus (feminine pūncta, neuter pūnctum, adverb pūnctim); first/second-declension participle

  1. pricked, punctured, pierced, having been pricked.
  2. marked with points; stippled.
  3. stung, bitten, pinched, having been affected sensibly.
  4. vexed, annoyed, grieved, troubled, disturbed, having been vexed or annoyed.
Declension[edit]

First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative pūnctus pūncta pūnctum pūnctī pūnctae pūncta
Genitive pūnctī pūnctae pūnctī pūnctōrum pūnctārum pūnctōrum
Dative pūnctō pūnctō pūnctīs
Accusative pūnctum pūnctam pūnctum pūnctōs pūnctās pūncta
Ablative pūnctō pūnctā pūnctō pūnctīs
Vocative pūncte pūncta pūnctum pūnctī pūnctae pūncta
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]

Noun[edit]

pūnctus m (genitive pūnctī); second declension

  1. (Late Latin, New Latin; also mathematics) point
    Alternative form: pūnctum n
Declension[edit]

Second-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative pūnctus pūnctī
Genitive pūnctī pūnctōrum
Dative pūnctō pūnctīs
Accusative pūnctum pūnctōs
Ablative pūnctō pūnctīs
Vocative pūncte pūnctī

Etymology 2[edit]

From pungō +‎ -tus.

Noun[edit]

pūnctus m (genitive pūnctūs); fourth declension

  1. a pricking, stinging, puncture
  2. (dubious) a point
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 2.68, Jean Hardouin, editor, Caii Plinii Secundi historiae naturalis libri XXXVII [], volume 1, published 1741, Paris, p. 107:
      Hae tot portiones terrae, immo vero, ut plures tradidere, 15mundi punctus: ( neque enim aliud est terra in universo: )
      Notae. [...] 15. Mundi punctus.] Acutum illud est Senecae dictum, lib. I. Natur. quaest. in prooem. pag. 831. Hoc est illud punctum, quod inter tot gentes ferro & igni dividitur. O quam ridiculi sunt mortalium termini, &c.
  3. (Medieval Latin) punctuation mark
Usage notes[edit]
  • (point): In older editions of Pliny mundi punctus (with punctus as a 4th-declension noun) appears, while in more recent editions it is mundi puncto (with punctum or punctus as 2nd-declension noun); compare Citations:puncto.
Declension[edit]

Fourth-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative pūnctus pūnctūs
Genitive pūnctūs pūnctuum
Dative pūnctuī pūnctibus
Accusative pūnctum pūnctūs
Ablative pūnctū pūnctibus
Vocative pūnctus pūnctūs
Synonyms[edit]
Descendants[edit]

Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

  • punctus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • punctus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • punctus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
  • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[4], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • in an instant: puncto temporis
    • to obtain many (few) votes in a century or tribe: multa (pauca) puncta in centuria (tribu) aliqua ferre