punctum

plural punctums · plural puncta

1. anatomyA sharp tip of any part of the anatomy; a point or other small area.

   Thus, from what has been stated, we see that neither the white puncta nor the minute white branchwork of lines were ever tubular.

   1861, The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Zoology, Botany, and Geology

2. entertainmentA neume representing a single tone.

plural punctums · plural puncta

1. artsA detail in a photograph that captures the viewer's attention and evokes an emotional response or personal connection beyond the intended subject.

   […]the punctum is something that is seen by the viewer, without it being shown to them by the photographer. As such, it functions, according to Fried, as an “ontological guarantee” (553) of a given photograph’s nontheatricality.

   2007, Photography theory, page 87

   1 more example

   Barthes describes the punctum (the nonconnotative or denotative meaning) of the photograph (or movie still) in such a manner; the detail relevant or not relevant to the image's overall meaning becomes the focus of an otherwise forgettable picture […]

   2012, Jeff Rice, Digital Detroit: Rhetoric and Space in the Age of the Network, page 160