English Explanatory Dictionary

punctuation

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. 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).
  2. An act of punctuating.

Pronunciation

/ˌpʌŋk.t͡ʃuˈeɪ.ʃən/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-punctuation.wav

Word forms

punctuation punctuations

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin punctuātiō (“a marking with points, a writing, agreement”), from punctuō (“to mark with points, settle”). Morphologically, punctuate + -ion.

Related words

point punctilious punctuate punctual punctuality apostrophe curly brackets brace square bracket bracket colon comma dash ellipsis exclamation mark fraction slash guillemet hyphen interpunct interrobang parentheses (US Canada) full stop period question mark quotation marks semicolon slash stroke space

Derived words

film punctuation interpunctuation logical punctuation mispunctuation nonpunctuation overpunctuation punctuational punctuationism punctuationist punctuationless punctuation mark punctuation space repunctuation under-punctuation underpunctuation
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