Etymograph

English

puntilla

Puntilla comes from Spanish puntilla ‘puntilla, dagger’, from punta ‘tip, point, end’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- ‘to prick, poke, stab’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewǵ-1‘to prick, poke, stab’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. Late Latinmodernpuncta1
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentpunta2‘tip, point, end’
  7. Spanishc. 1500–presentpuntilla3‘puntilla, dagger’
  8. Englishtodaypuntilla3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Spanish punta
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Spanish puntilla
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English puntilla

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewǵ-Wiktionary, Spanish punta‘to prick, poke, stab’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pungōWiktionary, Spanish punta‘to prick, sting’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpungōWiktionary, Spanish punta‘to prick’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūnctusWiktionary, Spanish punta
  5. Late LatinmodernpunctaWiktionary, Spanish punta
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentpuntaWiktionary, Spanish puntilla‘tip, point, end’
  7. Spanishc. 1500–presentpuntillaWiktionary, English puntilla‘puntilla, dagger’
  8. EnglishtodaypuntillaWiktionary, English puntilla

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- ‘to prick, poke, stab’

fuck, fist, pivot, pygmy, repugnant, pugnacious, impugn, 38 more

through Latin pungō ‘to prick’

point, poignant, pungent, compunction, punto, pugilist, puncheon, 17 more

through Latin pūnctus

punch, puncture, punctuation, pointe, punctual, punctuate, 8 more

Today it means

noun The small dagger for administering the coup de grâce to the bull.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “puntilla”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Spanish punta, Spanish puntilla. 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- / puntilla

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