Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “pointen” come from?

pointen (Middle English) comes from Old French pointier, from Old French point, from Latin pūnctum, from Latin punctus, from Latin -tus, from Proto-Italic -tus, from Proto-Indo-European -tus — Derives action nouns from verb roots.

Ancestry of “pointen”, step by step

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