Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “breakpoint” come from?

I need to identify the actual etymology chain for "breakpoint" from the materials provided. However, I notice the chain provided appears problematic: it lists "Old English brecan" (meaning "break"), then jumps to "Latin punctum" (meaning "point"), then back to Latin and PIE roots. This doesn't form a coherent chain for "breakpoint." The word "breakpoint" is a compound of "break" + "point": - "point" comes through the chain shown (Latin punctum) - "break" would come from Old English brecan But I'm instructed to write what the chain supports, not to construct my own etymology. The chain as given doesn't properly connect these elements into a single coherent path for "breakpoint." Given the instruction "State only what the chain supports. Do not invent dates, cognates, or intermediate steps," and given that the chain appears to mix two different

breakpoint (English): A point in a program at which operation may be...

Definitions

  1. A point in a program at which operation may be...

Ancestry of “breakpoint”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpointA discrete division of something; A sharp...
2Middle Englishpoint—
3Old Frenchpointa sting; a prick; moment; time; dot
4Latinpūnctum—
5Latinpunctuspricked, punctured, pierced, having been pricked;...
6Latin-tusForms the past participle of verbs; Forms...
7Proto-Italic-tus—
8Proto-Indo-European-tusDerives action nouns from verb roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tus →