Link Centre Dictionary

punctuate

punc·tuate

UK/ˈpʰʌŋktjuːeɪt/ US/ˈpʰʌŋkʃɪu̯ːeɪt/ uncommon

verb

1.

insert punctuation marks into

Synonyms
2.

to stress, single out as important

  • “Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet”
Synonyms
3.

interrupt periodically

  • “Her sharp questions punctuated the speaker”

Origin

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.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.