adj
Meaning 1
Point-like; consisting of or marked with one or more points.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
punctuate
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈphʌŋktjuːeɪt/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American: [ˈphʌŋkʃɪu̯ːeɪt]
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General-American: [ˈphʌŋkʃɪu̯ːeɪʔ]
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: P AH1 NG K CH UW0 EY2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
To add punctuation to.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- That occurrence of "its" needs to be punctuated as "it's".
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To add or to interrupt at regular intervals.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- My father punctuated his tirade with thumps on the desk.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To emphasize; to stress.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
insert punctuation marks into
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mark
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: add
Narrower terms: quote
verb
Meaning 6
interrupt periodically
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- Her sharp questions punctuated the speaker's drone
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: interrupt, disrupt, break up, cut off
verb
Meaning 7
to stress, single out as important
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: stress, emphasize, emphasise, accent, accentuate
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: express, show, evince
Narrower terms: background, play down, downplay, bring out, set off, re-emphasise, re-emphasize, bear down, topicalize, point up, drive home, ram home, press home, underscore, underline, emphasize, emphasise
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin pūnctuātus, perfect passive participle of pūnctuō (“to mark with points”), from Medieval Latin pūnctus (“a point, dot”), from pungō (“to prick, punch”); see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of punch.
Across languages
Translations
10 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Catalan: puntuar — add punctuation to
- French: ponctuer — add punctuation to
- German: interpunktieren — add punctuation to
- Ido: puntuar — add punctuation to
- Italian: interpungere — add punctuation to
- Portuguese: pontuar — add punctuation to
- Spanish: puntuar — add punctuation to
- Swedish: interpunktera — add punctuation to
- Turkish: noktalamak — add punctuation to
- Ottoman Turkish: نقطهلامق (noktalamak) — add punctuation to