punctuation

[ puhngk-choo-ey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the practice or system of using certain conventional marks or characters in writing or printing in order to separate elements and make the meaning clear, as in ending a sentence or separating clauses.
2. the act of punctuating.
3. punctuation marks.
4. Biology. the sudden or accelerated extinction of some species and emergence of others, occurring only in isolated periods, as set forth in the theory of punctuated equilibrium.

punctuation

/ ˌpʌŋktjʊˈeɪʃən /

noun

1. the use of symbols not belonging to the alphabet of a writing system to indicate aspects of the intonation and meaning not otherwise conveyed in the written language
2. the symbols used for this purpose
3. the act or an instance of punctuating

Other Words From

• punctu·ation·al punctu·ative adjective
• nonpunc·tu·ation noun
• repunc·tu·ation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of punctuation¹

First recorded in 1530–40; from Medieval Latin pūnctuātiōn- (stem of pūnctuātiō ) “a marking, pointing”; punctuate, -ion

Example Sentences

The greyscale layout is extremely slick and gets a nice bit of punctuation from the bright red escape key.

From Popular-Science

I picked up on the vibe that JBL wants to say its Bluetooth waterproof speakers are exciting and it aligns with the speaker’s overall bold look, though the punctuation is a little too flashy for my taste.

From Popular-Science

John Mueller said no, we don’t give any special consideration to punctuation after a link.

From Search Engine Land

The zesty curry sauce is my punctuation of choice for the fried fare, the restaurant’s top-selling dish.

From Washington Post

When there is automatic captioning on the video, the punctuation can be erratic, the words can be transcribed incorrectly and the caption is not always attributed to the speaker.

From Washington Post

Completed in 1953 and composed with standard line breaks and punctuation, the book was completely ignored upon submission.

From The Daily Beast

“And to see great fashion,” he added half-heartedly, in monotone and with no punctuation.

From The Daily Beast

You might say that this is part of my side of the story… Please excuse my handwriting, punctuation, and spelling.

From The Daily Beast

It was more like punctuation, a real life comma that emphasizes the constant pressures of our daily schedule.

From The Daily Beast

The rise to infamy of the “SarcMark”® is unparalleled in the history of punctuation.

From The Daily Beast

Inconsistencies in the author's spelling, punctuation, and use of hyphens have been retained as in the original book.

From Project Gutenberg

Spacing after punctuation standardized, inconsistent hyphenation and archaic spelling retained.

From Project Gutenberg

The want of a mark of punctuation, or the incorrect placing of it, will make the most woful confusion.

From Project Gutenberg

After this it becomes exceedingly common, and is even employed as a mark of punctuation between the words.

From Project Gutenberg

Transcriber's note: Minor spelling and punctuation inconsistencies, mainly quotes that had not been closed, have been harmonized.

From Project Gutenberg