Where does “pinpoint” come from?
Pinpoint derives from English point and English peen, both from Old English pinn, ultimately from Latin punctus, the past participle of pungere meaning to prick or pierce.
pinpoint (English): The point of a pin; Extremely precise or...
Definitions
- The point of a pin; Extremely precise or...
Ancestry of “pinpoint”, step by step
pinpoint traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English point
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | point | A discrete division of something; A sharp... |
| 2 | Middle English | point | — |
| 3 | Old French | point | a sting; a prick; moment; time; dot |
| 4 | Latin | pūnctum | point |
| 5 | Latin | punctus | pricked, punctured, pierced, having been pricked;... |
| 6 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |