Etymograph

English

punctule

Punctule comes from Latin pūnctulum ‘small prick, point or spot’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- ‘to punch, fist-fight’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewǵ-1‘to punch, fist-fight’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pungō1‘to prick, sting’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpungō1‘to prick’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūnctus1
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūnctum1‘point’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEulum1
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūnctulum2‘small prick, point or spot’
  8. Englishtodaypunctule2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin punctulum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English punctule

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewǵ-Wiktionary, Latin punctulum‘to punch, fist-fight’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pungōWiktionary, Latin punctulum‘to prick, sting’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpungōWiktionary, Latin punctulum‘to prick’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūnctusWiktionary, Latin punctulum
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūnctumWiktionary, Latin punctulum‘point’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEulumWiktionary, Latin punctulum
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūnctulumWiktionary, English punctule‘small prick, point or spot’
  8. EnglishtodaypunctuleWiktionary, English punctule

Equivalent to punctus + -ule

Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- ‘to punch, fist-fight’

Proto-Italic *pungō ‘to prick, sting’

Latin pungō ‘to prick’

Medieval Latin punctus ‘punctuation mark’

English punctus

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- ‘to punch, fist-fight’

fuck, fist, pivot, repugnant, pygmy, pugnacious, impugn, 40 more

through Latin pungō ‘to prick’

poignant, pungent, pugilist, compunction, puncheon, 19 more

through Latin pūnctus

punch, pointe, 12 more

through Latin pūnctum ‘point’

point, punto, 11 more

through Latin ulum

granular, granule

Today it means

noun A little point or spot.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “punctule”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin punctulum. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- / punctule

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