Meanings
plural punctuations
- countableuncountableNikud.
Jeremiah ii. 34, where the meaningless אֵלֶּה ("these") of the Massoretic text should be corrected into אַלָּה or לַהאֱ ("oak" or "terebinth") […] The change is merely one of punctuation; the original Hebrew text remains unaffected.
1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 3, page 53 - countableuncountableAn act of punctuating.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA 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).
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe marks used to clarify meaning by indicating separation of words into sentences and clauses and phrases
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Medieval Latinpunctuātiō“a marking with points, a writing, agreement”
- Englishpunctuation
Borrowed from Medieval Latin punctuātiō (“a marking with points, a writing, agreement”), from punctuō (“to mark with points, settle”). Morphologically, punctuate + -ion. Coined in the French dialogue book Orthoepia Gallica, translated by John Eliot in 1593.
More words from Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans punktuasie
- punktuasieset of symbols
Arabic عَلَامَة تَرْقِيم, تَرْقِيم
- عَلَامَة تَرْقِيم (ʕalāmat tarqīm)set of symbols
- تَرْقِيم (tarqīm)set of symbols
Basque puntuazio
- puntuazioset of symbols
Bulgarian пунктуа́ция
- пунктуа́ция (punktuácija)set of symbols
Catalan puntuació
- puntuacióset of symbols
Chinese Mandarin 標點 /标点, 句讀 /句读
- 標點 /标点 (biāodiǎn)set of symbols
- 句讀 /句读 (jùdòu)set of symbols
Czech interpunkce
- interpunkceset of symbols
Danish tegnsætning
- tegnsætningset of symbols
Dutch interpunctie
- interpunctieset of symbols
Esperanto interpunkcio
- interpunkcioset of symbols
Estonian kirjavahemärgid, vahemärgid
- kirjavahemärgidset of symbols
- vahemärgidset of symbols
Finnish välimerkit, välimerkitys
- välimerkitset of symbols
- välimerkitysact
- välimerkittäminenact
French ponctuation
- ponctuationset of symbols
German Satzzeichen, Interpunktion
- Satzzeichenset of symbols
- Interpunktionset of symbols
- Zeichensetzungset of symbols
- Zeichensetzungact
Greek στίξη, στίξις
- στίξη (stíxi)set of symbols
- στίξις (stíxis)set of symbols
Hindi विराम चिह्न
- विराम चिह्न (virām cihna)set of symbols
Hungarian központozás, központozás
- központozásset of symbols
- központozásact
Icelandic greinarmerki
- greinarmerkiset of symbols
Indonesian tanda baca
- tanda bacaset of symbols
Irish poncaíocht
- poncaíochtset of symbols
Italian punteggiatura, interpunzione
- punteggiaturaset of symbols
- interpunzioneset of symbols
Japanese 句読点, 約物
- 句読点 (kutōten)set of symbols
- 約物 (yakumono)set of symbols
- 句読法 (kutōhō)act
Korean 문장 부호, 구두점
- 문장 부호 (munjang buho)set of symbols
- 구두점 (gudujeom)set of symbols
- 구두법 (gudubeop)act
Latvian interpunkcija
- interpunkcijaset of symbols
Lithuanian skyryba
- skyrybaset of symbols
Malay tanda baca
- tanda bacaset of symbols
Māori tohutuhi
- tohutuhiset of symbols
Norwegian Bokmål tegnsetting
- tegnsettingset of symbols
Polish interpunkcja, przestankowanie
- interpunkcjaset of symbols
- przestankowanieset of symbols
Portuguese pontuação
- pontuaçãoset of symbols
Romanian punctuație
- punctuațieset of symbols
Russian пунктуа́ция, зна́ки препина́ния
- пунктуа́ция (punktuácija)set of symbols
- зна́ки препина́ния (znáki prepinánija)set of symbols
- препина́ние (prepinánije)set of symbols
Scottish Gaelic pungadh
- pungadhset of symbols
Slovak interpunkcia
- interpunkciaset of symbols
Spanish puntuación
- puntuaciónset of symbols
Swedish skiljetecken
- skiljeteckenset of symbols
Tagalog palabantasan, pagbabantas
- palabantasanset of symbols
- pagbabantasact
Tamil நிறுத்தக்குறிகள்
- நிறுத்தக்குறிகள் (niṟuttakkuṟikaḷ)set of symbols
Thai เครื่องหมายวรรคตอน, วรรคตอน
- เครื่องหมายวรรคตอน (krʉ̂ʉang-mǎai-wák-dtɔɔn)set of symbols
- วรรคตอนset of symbols
Turkish noktalama
- noktalamaset of symbols
Ukrainian пунктуа́ція
- пунктуа́ція (punktuácija)set of symbols
Urdu رُمُوزِ اَوقاف
- رُمُوزِ اَوقاف (rumūz-i auqāf)set of symbols
Vietnamese chấm câu
- chấm câuset of symbols
Welsh atalnodi
- atalnodiset of symbols
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with punctuation
Cite this entry
punctuation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punctuation
“punctuation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punctuation. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “punctuation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punctuation.
Source: punctuation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.