punctuation: [16] Punctuation is one of a small family of English words that go back to punctus, the past participle of Latin pungere ‘prick’ (source of English expunge [17], poignant [14], and pungent [16]). They include point, which arrived via Old French; punctilious [17] (which comes via Italian and may be related to pun) and punctual [14], both of them containing the etymological notion of ‘adherence to a precise point’; puncture [14]; punt ‘bet’; and punctuation itself, whose present-day meaning comes from the insertion of ‘points’ or dots into written texts to indicate pauses (also termed pointing from the 15th to the 19th centuries). => expunge, poignant, point, pungent, punt
1530s, "pointing of the psalms," from Medieval Latin punctuationem (nominative punctuatio) "a marking with points," noun of action from past participle stem of punctuare "to mark with points or dots," from Latin punctus "a prick" (see point (n.)). Meaning "system of inserting pauses in written matter" is recorded from 1660s.
[P]unctuation is cold notation; it is not frustrated speech; it is typographic code. [Robert Bringhurst, "The Elements of Typographic Style," 2004]
双语例句
1. He was known for his poor grammar and punctuation.
他不通语法和乱用标点是出了名的。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Check and double-check spelling and punctuation.
要反复检查拼写和标点符号。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Marks were given for accurate spelling and punctuation.
