English
punctuation
Punctuation comes from Medieval Latin punctuātiō ‘a marking with points, a writing, agreement’, and goes back to Latin pūnctus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūnctus1
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500punctuō2‘to mark with points, settle’
- Medieval Latin, derivedc. 600–1500punctuātiō2‘a marking with points, a writing, agreement’
- Englishearliest quotation 1918punctuation2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin punctuo
- 2 Wiktionary, English punctuation
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament: “Jeremiah ii. 34, where the meaningless אֵלֶּה ("these") of…”.
Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūnctusWiktionary, Latin punctuo
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500punctuōWiktionary, English punctuation‘to mark with points, settle’
- Medieval Latin, derivedc. 600–1500punctuātiōWiktionary, English punctuation‘a marking with points, a writing, agreement’
- Englishearliest quotation 1918punctuationWiktionary, English punctuation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament: “Jeremiah ii. 34, where the meaningless אֵלֶּה ("these") of…”
Formed from punctuate + -ion
Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- ‘prick, punch’
…
Medieval Latin pungō ‘to prick, punch’
Medieval Latin pūnctus ‘a point, dot’
Medieval Latin pūnctuō ‘to mark with points’
Medieval Latin pūnctuātus ‘marked with a point or by pointing’
English punctuate
Linked words
through Latin pūnctus
Today it means
noun A set of symbols and marks which are used to clarify meaning in text by separating strings of words into clauses, phrases and sentences; examples include commas, hyphens, and stops (periods).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin pūnctus / punctuation