punctus interrogativus

UK/ˌpʌŋktəs ɪntəɹɒɡəˈtiːvəs/UK/ˌpʌŋktəs ɪntəɹɒɡəˈtaɪvəs/UK/ˌpʌŋktəs ɪntəˈɹɒɡətɪvəs/US/ˌpʌŋktəs ɪntəɹɑɡəˈtivəs/

noun

A medieval question mark, ⟨⹔⟩, possibly the ancestor of the modern mark ⟨?⟩.

OriginMedieval Latin pūnctus interrogātīvus →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noun
  1. biologyA medieval question mark, ⟨⹔⟩, possibly the ancestor of the modern mark ⟨?⟩.

    […]although none of these happend to have occasion to use the punctus interrogativus.

    2015 December 23, Mary P. Richards, editor, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: Basic Readings, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 387
    2 more examples

    punctus percontativus A reversed, but not inverted punctus interrogativus […] used in the 16th and 17th centuries to indicate the end of a percontatio.

    1993, Malcolm Beckwith Parkes, Pause and Effect, Glossary, pages 306–307

    […]manuscript punctuation has a punctus elevatus after the interjections and a punctus interrogativus at the end of the sentence.

    2000, Jane Roberts, Janet Laughland Nelson, editors, Essays on Anglo-Saxon and Related Themes in Memory of Lynne Grundy, King's College (University of London), →ISBN, page 537

Origin

  1. Medieval Latinpūnctus interrogātīvus“question mark”
  2. Englishpunctus interrogativus

From Medieval Latin pūnctus interrogātīvus (“question mark”).

More words from Medieval Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

punctus interrogativus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punctus%20interrogativus

MLA

“punctus interrogativus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punctus%20interrogativus. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “punctus interrogativus,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punctus%20interrogativus.

Source: punctus interrogativus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.