punctus versus

UK/ˌpʌŋktəs ˈvɜːsəs/US/ˌpʌŋktəs ˈvɚsəs/

noun

A medieval punctuation mark marking the end of a sentence (approximately ;)

OriginMedieval Latin pūnctus versus →
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Meanings

noun
  1. biologyA medieval punctuation mark marking the end of a sentence (approximately ;)

    […]the punctus versus is used at the close of the sentence and after words introducing direct speech[…]

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

    […]moreover by turning the punctus after fiant into a punctus versus, he has repointed the two verses as a single sententia.

    1993, Malcolm Beckwith Parkes, Pause and Effect, Influences on The Application of Punctuation, page 74

    Thus the basic punctuation marks used in English manuscripts of the eleventh-thirteenth centuries are: the simple point, the punctus elevatus, the punctus versus, and the punctus interrogativus.

    2011 July 22, Tadao Kudouchi, edited by Akio Oizumi and Jacek Fisiak, English Historical Linguistics and Philology in Japan, De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 172

Origin

  1. Medieval Latinpūnctus versus
  2. Englishpunctus versus

From Medieval Latin pūnctus versus (literally “facing mark”).

More words from Medieval Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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