point

English Online Dictionary. What means point‎? What does point mean?

English

Alternative forms

• p'int

Pronunciation

• (UK, General American) enPR: point, IPA^(key): /pɔɪnt/
• Rhymes: -ɔɪnt

Etymology 1

From Middle English poynt, from Old French point m (“dot; minute amount”), from Latin pūnctum (“a hole punched in; a point, puncture”), substantive use of pūnctus m, perfect passive participle of pungō (“I prick, punch”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“prick, punch”)); alternatively, from Old French pointe f (“sharp tip”), from Latin pūncta f (past participle). Displaced native Middle English ord (“point”), from Old English ord (“point”). Doublet of pointe, ponto, puncto, punctum, punt, and punto.

Noun

point (countable and uncountable, plural points)

1. A small dot or mark.
   1. Something tiny, as a pinprick; a very small mark. [from 15th c.]

   2. A full stop or other terminal punctuation mark. [from 14th c.]
   3. (mathematics) A decimal point (now especially when reading decimal fractions aloud). [from 18th c.]

   4. Each of the marks or strokes written above letters, especially in Semitic languages, to indicate vowels, stress etc. [from 17th c.]
   5. (music) A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time. In ancient music, it distinguished or characterized certain tones or styles (points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.). In modern music, it is placed on the right of a note to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half.
   6. (by extension) A note; a tune.
   7. (mathematics, sciences) A zero-dimensional mathematical object representing a location in one or more dimensions; something considered to have position but no magnitude or direction. [from 14th c.]
2. A small discrete division or individual feature of something.
   1. An individual element in a larger whole; a particular detail, thought, or quality. [from 13th c.]

   2. A particular moment in an event or occurrence; a juncture. [from 13th c.]

   3. (archaic) Condition, state. [from 13th c.]

   4. A topic of discussion or debate; a proposition; a count [from 14th c.]

   5. (US, slang, dated) An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer.
   7. A focus of conversation or consideration; the main idea.

   8. A purpose or objective, which makes something meaningful. [from 14th c.]
   9. (obsolete) The smallest quantity of something; a jot, a whit. [14th–17th c.]
   10. (obsolete) A tiny amount of time; a moment. [14th–17th c.]
   11. A specific location or place, seen as a spatial position. [from 14th c.]

   12. A distinguishing quality or characteristic. [from 15th c.]

   13. (in the plural, dated) The chief or excellent features.

       the points of a horse
   14. (usually in the plural) An area of contrasting colour on an animal, especially a dog; a marking. [from 19th c.]

   15. (now only in phrases) A tenth; formerly also a twelfth. [from 17th c.]

   16. Short for percentage point.
   17. (sports, video games, board games) A unit of scoring in a game or competition. [from 18th c.]

   18. (video games, board games) A unit of various numerical parameters used in a game, e.g. health, experience, stamina, mana.

   19. (economics) A unit used to express differences in prices of stocks and shares. [from 19th c.]
   20. (typography) a unit of measure equal to 1/12 of a pica, or approximately 1/72 of an inch (exactly 1/72 of an inch in the digital era). [from 19th c.]
   21. (UK) An electric power socket. [from 20th c.]
   22. (navigation, nautical) A unit of bearing equal to one thirty-second of a circle, i.e. 11.25°.

   23. (UK) A unit of measure for rain, equal to 0.254 mm or 0.01 of an inch.
   24. (automotive, chiefly in the plural) Either of the two metal surfaces in a distributor which close or open to allow or prevent the flow of current through the ignition coil. There is usually a moving point, pushed by the distributor cam, and a fixed point, and they are built together as a unit.
3. A sharp extremity.
   1. The sharp tip of an object. [from 14th c.]
   2. Any projecting extremity of an object. [from 14th c.]
   3. An object which has a sharp or tapering tip. [from 14th c.]
      1. (archaeology) A spearhead or similar object hafted to a handle.
      2. (medicine, obsolete) A vaccine point.
   4. (backgammon) Each of the twelve triangular positions in either table of a backgammon board, on which the stones are played. [from 15th c.]
   5. A peninsula or promontory. [from 15th c.]
   6. The position at the front or vanguard of an advancing force. [from 16th c.]
      1. (by extension) An operational or public leadership position in a risky endeavor.
      2. Short for point man.
   7. Each of the main directions on a compass, usually considered to be 32 in number; a direction. [from 16th c.]
   8. (nautical) The difference between two points of the compass.

   9. Pointedness of speech or writing; a penetrating or decisive quality of expression. [from 17th c.]
   10. (rail transport, UK, in the plural) A railroad switch. [from 19th c.]
   11. A tine or snag of an antler.
   12. (heraldry) One of the "corners" of the escutcheon: the base (bottom center) unless a qualifier is added (point dexter, point dexter base, point sinister, point sinister base), generally when separately tinctured. (Compare terrace, point champaine, enté en point.)
   13. (heraldry, by extension) An ordinary similar to a pile (but sometimes shorter), extending upward from the base. (Often termed a point pointed.)
4. The act of pointing.
   1. The act of pointing, as of the foot downward in certain dance positions.
   2. The gesture of extending the index finger in a direction in order to indicate something.
   3. The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game.

   4. (falconry) The perpendicular rising of a hawk over the place where its prey has gone into cover.
   5. (fencing) A movement executed with the sabre or foil.

5. (nautical) A short piece of cordage used in reefing sails.
6. (historical) A string or lace used to tie together certain garments.
7. Lace worked by the needle.
8. In various sports, a position of a certain player, or, by extension, the player occupying that position.
   1. (cricket, countable, uncountable) A fielding position square of the wicket on the off side, between gully and cover. [from 19th c.]
   2. (lacrosse, ice hockey, countable, uncountable) The position of the player of each side who stands a short distance in front of the goalkeeper.
   3. (baseball, countable, uncountable) The position of the pitcher and catcher.
   4. (hunting) A spot to which a straight run is made; hence, a straight run from point to point; a cross-country run.

Synonyms

• (location or place): location, place, position, spot
• (in geometry): ord
• (particular moment in an event or occurrence): moment, ord, time
• (sharp tip): end, ord, tip
• (arithmetic symbol): spot, decimal point (name of the symbol; not used when reading decimal fractions aloud)
• (opinion): opinion, point of view, view, viewpoint
• (unit of measure of success or failure): mark (in a competition)
• (color of extremities of an animal):

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• point d'appui

Descendants

• → Cantonese: point
• → Indonesian: poin
• → Japanese: ポイント (pointo)
• → Korean: 포인트 (pointeu)
• → Malay: poin

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Collocations of do, have, make, and take for the use of point with these verbs

References

• point on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

From Middle English pointen, poynten, from Old French pointier, pointer, poynter, from point from Latin pūnctum.

Verb

point (third-person singular simple present points, present participle pointing, simple past and past participle pointed)

1. (intransitive) To extend the index finger in the direction of something in order to show where it is or to draw attention to it.
2. (intransitive) To draw attention to something or indicate a direction.
3. (intransitive) To face in a particular direction.
4. (transitive, sometimes figurative) To direct toward an object; to aim.
5. To give a point to; to sharpen; to cut, forge, grind, or file to an acute end.

6. (intransitive) To indicate a probability of something.
7. (ambitransitive, masonry) To repair mortar.
8. (transitive, masonry) To fill up and finish the joints of (a wall), by introducing additional cement or mortar, and bringing it to a smooth surface.
9. (stone-cutting) To cut, as a surface, with a pointed tool.
10. (transitive) To direct or encourage (someone) in a particular direction.
11. (transitive, mathematics) To separate an integer from a decimal with a decimal point.
12. (transitive) To mark with diacritics.
13. (dated) To supply with punctuation marks; to punctuate.

14. (transitive, computing) To direct the central processing unit to seek information at a certain location in memory.
15. (transitive, Internet) To direct requests sent to a domain name to the IP address corresponding to that domain name.
16. (intransitive, nautical) To sail close to the wind.

17. (intransitive, hunting) To indicate the presence of game by a fixed and steady look, as certain hunting dogs do.
18. (medicine, of an abscess) To approximate to the surface; to head.
19. (dated) To give point to (something said or done); to give particular prominence or force to.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English pointen, poynten, by apheresis of apointen, appointen, appoynten. See appoint.

Verb

point (third-person singular simple present points, present participle pointing, simple past and past participle pointed)

1. (obsolete) To appoint.

References

Further reading

• “point”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “point”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Pinto, opt in, opt-in, pinot, pinto, piton, potin

Chinese

Etymology

From English point.

Pronunciation

Noun

point (Hong Kong Cantonese)

1. point (of an argument); main idea; argument

   佢個point都幾有道理 [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢个point都几有道理 [Cantonese, simp.]

   keoi⁵ go³ pon¹ dou¹ gei² jau⁵ dou⁶ lei⁵ [Jyutping]

   His idea makes some sense

   佢講嘢都冇point嘅！ [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢讲嘢都冇point嘅！ [Cantonese, simp.]

   keoi⁵ gong² je⁵ dou¹ mou⁵ pon¹ ge²! [Jyutping]

   What he is saying does not have any point!

2. levels in the wage scale

   跳point [Cantonese]  ―  tiu³ pon¹ [Jyutping]  ―  to increase in salary by moving up the wage scale

Danish

Etymology

From French point, from Latin pūnctum, the neuter of the participle pūnctus (“pointed”). Doublet of pointe, punkt, and punktum, and cognate with punktere (from Latin punctuo).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pʰoˈɛŋ]

Noun

point

1. a point (in a game)

Declension

See also

• punkt
• pointe
• pointere

Further reading

• “point” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pwɛ̃/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): [pwɛ̃ɪ̃]
• Rhymes: -ɛ̃
• Homophones: poing, poings, points

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle French poinct (with orthography modified to reflect the Latin etymology), from Old French point, from Latin punctum.

Noun

point m (plural points)

1. point (small mark)
2. (sports, games) point
3. full stop, period (punctuation mark)
4. (knitting) stitch pattern
5. dot (Morse code symbol)

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Danish: point
• → Dutch: punt
• → Norwegian Bokmål: poeng
• → Persian: پوئن (pu'an)
• → Polish: pointa
• → Swedish: poäng
• → Turkish: puan

Adverb

point

1. (literary, dialectal, usually with "ne") not

   Synonym: pas (contemporary French)

   Ne craignez point ― Fear not

Related terms

• appointer
• pointe
• poindre
• poignant
• poinçon

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old French point, from Latin punctus.

Participle

point (feminine pointe, masculine plural points, feminine plural pointes)

1. past participle of poindre

Etymology 3

From Latin pungit.

Verb

point

1. third-person singular present indicative of poindre

Further reading

• “point”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• piton

Manx

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

point (verbal noun pointeil, past participle pointit)

1. appoint

Mutation

Norman

Etymology

From Old French point, from Latin punctum.

Noun

point m (plural points)

1. (Jersey) full stop, period (punctuation mark)

Derived terms

• point d'excliamâtion (“exclamation mark”)
• point d'tchestchionn'nie (“question mark”)
• point virgule (“semicolon”)

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin punctum.

Noun

point oblique singular, m (oblique plural poinz or pointz, nominative singular poinz or pointz, nominative plural point)

1. a sting; a prick
2. moment; time
3. (on a die) dot
4. small amount

Adverb

point

1. a little
2. (with ne) not (indicates negation)

Descendants

• Middle French: poinct
  • French: point
• → Middle English: poynt
  • English: point

Etymology 2

From Latin punctus.

Verb

point

1. past participle of poindre

Descendants

• Dutch: pointeren
• English: point
• Middle French: poinct
  • French: point
    • Norwegian Bokmål: poeng

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpwɛnt/
• Rhymes: -ɛnt
• Syllabification: point

Noun

point f pl

1. genitive plural of pointa

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English point. Doublet of ponto.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpõj̃.t͡ʃ(i)/

Noun

point m (plural points)

1. (Brazil, slang) a location where members of a group usually meet

   Synonym: spot (Portugal)