Online Etymology Dictionary

pointed: "having the quality of penetrating the feelings or mind," 1665, from pp. of point (v.) in sense of "furnish with a point."
point man: "one who leads a military patrol in formation in a jungle, etc.," 1944, from point (n.) in military sense of "small leading party of an advance guard" (1589).
point (n.): 12c., a merger of two words, both ultimately from L. pungere "prick, pierce" (see pungent). The neut. pp. punctum was used as a noun, meaning "small hole made by pricking," subsequently extended to anything that looked like one, hence, "dot, particle," etc., which was its meaning as O.Fr. point, borrowed in M.E. by c.1300. The fem. pp. of pungere was puncta, which was used in M.L. to mean "sharp tip," and became O.Fr. pointe, which also passed into English, early 14c. The sense have merged in English, but remain distinct in French. Extended senses are from the notion of "minute, single, or separate items in an extended whole," which is the earliest attested sense in English (early 13c.). Meaning "distinguishing feature" is recorded from late 15c. Meaning "a unit of score in a game" is first recorded 1746. As a typeface unit (in Britain and U.S., one twelfth of a pica), it went into use in U.S. 1883. As a measure of weight for precious stones (one one-hundredth of a carat) it is recorded from 1931. The point "the matter being discussed" is attested from late 14c.; meaning "sense, purpose, advantage" (usually in the negative, e.g. what's the point?) is first recorded 1903. Phrase possession is nine (or eleven) points of the law (1690s) is out of a supposed 10 (or 12). Point of honor (1610s) translates Fr. point d'honneur. Point of no return (1941) is originally aviators' term for the point in a flight "before which any engine failure requires an immediate turn around and return to the point of departure, and beyond which such return is no longer practical."
point blank: 1571, from point (v.) + blank, the white center of a target. The notion is of standing close enough to aim (point) at the blank without allowance for curve, windage, or gravity.
point (v.): "to indicate with the finger," late 15c., from point (n.). Pointer "item of advice" first recorded 1883.
point of view: "position from which a thing is viewed," mid-18c. Figurative use is from 1760. Cf. Fr. point de vue, a loan-translation of L. punctum visus. Cf. also Ger. Gesichtspunkt.
pointillism: 1901, from Fr. pointiller "to cover with pointilles," small dots, pl. dim. of point (see point (n.)). Pointillist is attested from 1891.
pointing: "the filling up of exterior faces of joints in brickwork," late 15c., from point (n.).
pointer: "dog that stands rigid in the presence of game, facing the quarry," 1717, from point (v.).
pointless: early 14c., “blunt,” from point (n.) + -less. Meaning “of no effect, to no purpose” is from 1726. Related: Pointlessly.
pointy: 1640s, from point (n.) + -y (2). Insult pointy-head for one deemed overly intellectual, by 1971, popularized, if not coined, by U.S. politician George Wallace in his 1972 presidential run.
appoint: late 14c., from O.Fr. apointier "to arrange, settle, place" (12c.), from apointer "duly, fitly," from phrase à point "to the point," from a- "to" + point "point," from L. punctum. The ground sense is "to come to a point about (a matter)," therefore "agree, settle."
vertex: 1570, "the point opposite the base in geometry," from L. vertex "highest point," lit. "the turning point," originally "whirling column, whirlpool," from vertere "to turn" (see versus). Meaning "highest point of anything" is first attested 1641.
brad: "small wire nail," late 13c., brod, from O.N. broddr "spike, point, arrow," from P.Gmc. *brozda- (cf. O.E. brord "point, prick, blade of grass," O.H.G. brort "point, edge, crown"), from PIE *bhrs-dh-, from base *bhars- "projectile, point, bristle."
go over: “to review point by point,” attested from 1580s.
odd: c.1300, "constituting a unit in excess of an even number," from O.N. oddi "third or additional number," as in odda-maðr "third man, odd man (who gives the casting vote)," odda-tala "odd number." O.N. oddi means lit. "point, angle;" related via notion of "triangle" to oddr "point of a weapon," from P.Gmc. *uzdaz "pointed upward" (cf. O.E. ord "point of a weapon, spear, source, beginning," O.Fris. ord "point, place," Du. oord "place, region," O.H.G. ort "point," Ger. Ort "place"), from PIE *uzdho- (cf. Lith. us-nis "thistle"). None of the other languages, however, shows the O.N. development from "point" to "third number." Used from late 14c. to indicate a surplus over any given sum. Sense of "strange, peculiar" first attested 1580s from notion of "odd one out, unpaired one of three" (attested earlier, c.1400, as "singular" in a positive sense of "renowned, rare, choice"). Odd job (c.1770) is so called from notion of "not regular." Odd lot "incomplete or random set" is from 1897. The international order of Odd Fellows began as local social clubs in England, late 18c., with Masonic-type trappings; formally organized 1813 in Manchester.
zinc: 1650s, from Ger. Zink, perhaps related to Zinke "prong, point;" said to have been used first by Paracelsus (c.1526) on analogy of the form of its crystals after smelting. Zinke is from O.H.G. zint "a point, jag," from P.Gmc. *tindja "tine" (cf. O.N. tindr "point, top, summit," O.E. tind "prong, spike;" cf. tine).
acrid: 1712, from L. acer (fem. acris) "sharp, pungent, bitter, eager, fierce," from PIE *ak-ri-, from base *ak- "be sharp, rise (out) to a point, pierce" (cf. Oscan acrid "sharply;" Gk. akis "sharp point," akros "at the farthest point, highest, pointed," akantha "thorn," akme "summit, edge;" also oxys "sharp, bitter;" Skt. acri- "corner, edge," acani- "point of an arrow," asrih "edge;" Lith. asmuo "sharpness," akstis "sharp stick;" O.Ir. er "high;" Welsh ochr "edge, corner, border;" O.N. eggja "goad;" O.E. ecg "sword"). The -id suffix probably is in imitation of acid.
Narragansett: 1622, from southern New England Algonquian Naiaganset "(people) of the small point of land," containing nai- "a point or angle." Originally in reference to the native people, later to the place in Rhode Island.
punctual: c.1400, from M.L. punctualis (early 13c.), from L. punctus "a pricking" (see point). Originally "having a sharp point;" meaning "prompt" first recorded 1670s, from notion of "insisting on fine points."
ben: "mountain peak" in Celtic place names (esp. of roughly pyramidal peaks standing alone), from Gael. beann, from O.Ir. *benno- "peak, horn, conical point," from PIE base *bend- "projecting point."
acme: "highest point," 1560s, from Gk. akme "(highest) point," from PIE base *ak- "sharp" (see acrid). Written in Gk. letters until c.1620.
endpoint: also end-point, 1899, originally in chemistry, from end + point. General use from 1920s.
peak: "pointed top," 1520s, variant of pike (2) "sharp point." Meaning "top of a mountain" first recorded 1630s, though pike was used in this sense c.1400. Figurative sense is 1784. Meaning "point formed by hair on the forehead" is from 1833. The verb is first recorded 1570s, in sense of "to rise in a peak;" meaning "reach highest point" first recorded 1958. Related: peaked; peaking. The Peak in Derbyshire is older than the word for "mountaintop," O.E. Peaclond, for the district, Pecsaetan, for the people who settled there; sometimes said to be a reference to an elf-denizen Peac "Puck."
demonstrate: 1550s, "to point out," from L. demonstratus, pp. of demonstrare (see demonstration). Meaning "to point out by argument or deduction" is from 1570s. Related: Demonstrated; demonstrating.
punctate: 1760, from Mod.L. punctuatus, from L. punctum "point" (see point).
punctuate (v.): 1630s, "to point out," from M.L. punctuatus, pp. of punctuare, from L. punctus (see point). Meaning in text, "to have pauses or stops indicated," is from 1818. Hence, "interrupted at intervals" (1833). Related: Punctuated; punctuating.
tine: O.E. tind, a general Gmc. word (cf. O.H.G. zint "sharp point, spike," O.N. tindr "tine, point, top, summit," Ger. Zinne "pinnacle"), of unknown origin.
punctilious: 1630s, probably from It. puntiglioso, from puntiglio "fine point," from L. punctum "prick" (see point).
streamline: 1868 (n.) "line drawn from point to point, so that its direction is everywhere that of the motion of the fluid" [Lamb, "Hydrodynamics," 1906], from stream + line. The adj. is attested from 1898, "free from turbulence," 1907 in sense of "shaped so that the flow around it is smooth." The verb is attested from 1913 with meaning "give a streamline form to," and 1936 in the extended sense of "simplify and organize."
shako: cylindrical soldier's hat with plume, 1815, from Hungarian csákó, short for csákós süveg "peaked cap," from adj. form of csáko "peak, projecting point of a cow's horn," which some European etymologists derive from Ger. zacken "point, spike," but which Hungarian sources regard as of unknown origin.
edge (n.): O.E. ecg "corner, edge, point," also "sword" (cf. ecgplega, lit. "edge play," ecghete, lit. "edge hate," both used poetically for "battle"), from P.Gmc. *agjo (cf. O.Fris. egg "edge;" O.S. eggia "point, edge;" M.Du. egghe, Du. eg; O.N. egg, see egg (v.); O.H.G. ecka, Ger. Eck "corner"), from PIE base *ak- "sharp, pointed" (cf. Skt. asrih "edge," L. acies, Gk. akis "point;" see acrid). Spelling development of O.E. -cg to M.E. -gg to Modern English -dge represents a widespread shift in pronunciation. To get the edge on (someone) is U.S. colloquial, first recorded 1911. Edge city is from Joel Garreau's 1992 book of that name. Razor's edge as a perilous narrow path translates Gk. epi xyrou akmes. To have (one's) teeth on edge is from late 14c., though "It is not quite clear what is the precise notion originally expressed in this phrase" [OED].
crux: 1814, "cross," from L. crux "cross" (see cross). Figurative use for "a central difficulty," is older, from 1718; perhaps from L. crux interpretum "a point in a text that is impossible to interpret," in which the literal sense is something like "crossroads of interpreters." Extended sense of "central point" is from 1888.
punctilio: 1590s, from It. puntiglio or Sp. puntillo, dim. of punto "point" (see point).
tip (n.): "end, point, top," early 13c., from M.L.G. or M.Du. tip "utmost point, extremity, tip" (cf. Ger. zipfel, a dim. formation); perhaps cognate with O.E. tæppa "stopper" (see tap (n.)), from P.Gmc. *tupp- "upper extremity." Tip-toe (n.) is late 14c.; tip-top is from 1702.
spire: O.E. spir "sprout, shoot, stalk of grass," from P.Gmc. *spiraz (cf. O.N. spira "a stalk, slender tree," M.L.G. spir "a small point or top"), from PIE *spei- "sharp point" (see spike (n.1)). Meaning "tapering top of a tower or steeple" first recorded 1590s (a sense attested in M.L.G. since late 14c. and also found in the Scandinavian cognates). The verb is first recorded early 14c.
quibble: 1610s, "a pun, a play on words," probably a dim. of quib "evasion of point at issue" (c.1550), from L. quibus "by what (things)?," dative and ablative plural of quid "what," neut. of quis (see who). The word's overuse in legal jargon supposedly gave it the association with trivial argument. Meaning "equivocation, evasion of the point" is attested from 1660s. The verb in this sense is from 1650s. Related: Quibbled; quibbling.
res judicata: a point decided by authority.
bristle: O.E. byrst "bristle," with metathesis of -r-, from P.Gmc. *bors- (cf. M.Du. borstel, Ger. borste), from PIE *bhrsti- from base *bhar- "point, bristle" (cf. Skt. bhrstih "point, spike"). With -el, dim. suffix. The verb "become angry or excited" is 1540s, from the way animals show fight. Related: Bristled; bristling.
foible: 1640s, "weak point of a sword blade" (contrasted to forte), from Fr. foible (adj.) "weak," from O.Fr. foible "feeble," dissimilated from L. flebilis (see feeble). Extended sense of "weak point of character" is first recorded 1670s. Related: Foibles.
demonstration: late 14c., from O.Fr. demonstration or directly from L. demonstrationem (nom. demonstratio), noun of action from pp. stem of demonstrare "to point out, indicate, demonstrate," figuratively, "to prove, establish," from de- "entirely" (see de-) + monstrare "to point out, show," from monstrum "divine omen, wonder" (see monster). Meaning "public show of feeling," usually with a mass meeting and a procession, is from 1839. Related: Demonstrational.
epoch: 1610s, epocha, "point marking the start of a new period in time" (e.g. the founding of Rome, the birth of Christ, the Hegira), from L.L. epocha, from Gk. epokhe "stoppage, fixed point of time," from epekhein "to pause, take up a position," from epi "on" (see epi-) + ekhein "to hold" (see scheme). Transferred sense of "a period of time" is 1620s; geological usage (not a precise measurement) is from 1802.
forte: 1640s, from Fr. fort "strong point (of a sword blade)," also "fort," from M.Fr. fort (see fort); final -e- added 18c. in imitation of It. forte "strong." Meaning "strong point of a person" is from 1680s.
diction: 1540s, "a word;" 1580s, "expression of ideas in words," from L.L. dictionem (nom. dictio) "a saying, expression, word," from dic-, pp. stem of L. dicere "speak, tell, say," related to dicare "proclaim, dedicate," from PIE base *deik- "to point out" (cf. Skt. dic- "point out, show," Gk. deiknynai "to prove," L. digitus "finger," O.H.G. zeigon, Ger. zeigen "to show," O.E. teon "to accuse," tæcan "to teach").
salient: 1560s, "leaping," a heraldic term, from L. salientem (nom. saliens), prp. of salire "to leap," from PIE base *sel- "to jump" (cf. Gk. hallesthai "to leap," M.Ir. saltraim "I trample," and probably Skt. ucchalati "rises quickly"). The meaning "pointing outward" (preserved in military usage) is from 1680s; that of "prominent, striking" first recorded 1840, from salient point (1670s), which refers to the heart of an embryo, which seems to leap, and translates L. punctum saliens, going back to Aristotle's writings. Hence, the "starting point" of anything.
center: late 14c., from O.Fr. centre (14c.), from L. centrum "center," originally fixed point of the two points of a compass, from Gk. kentron "sharp point, goad, sting of a wasp," from kentein "stitch," from PIE base *kent- "to prick" (cf. Breton kentr "a spur," Welsh cethr "nail," O.H.G. hantag "sharp, pointed"). The verb is from 1590s. Spelling with -re popularized in Britain by Johnson's dictionary, though -er is older. Related: Centered; centering. Center of gravity is recorded from 1650s.
focus: 1640s, from L. focus "hearth, fireplace," of unknown origin, used in post-classical times for "fire" itself, taken by Kepler (1604) in a mathematical sense for "point of convergence," perhaps on analogy of the burning point of a lens (the purely optical sense of the word may have existed before Kepler, but it is not recorded). Introduced into English 1650s by Hobbes. Sense transfer to "center of activity or energy" is first recorded 1796. The verb is first attested 1814 in the literal sense; the figurative sense is recorded earlier (1807). Related: Focused; focusing; focussed; focussing.
spit (n.): "sharp-pointed rod on which meat is roasted," O.E. spitu, from P.Gmc. *spituz (cf. M.Du. spit, Swed. spett, O.H.G. spiz, Ger. Spieß "spit," Ger. spitz "pointed"), from PIE *spei- "sharp point" (see spike (n.1)). This is also the source of the word meaning "sandy point" (1670s). O.Fr. espois, Sp. espeto "spit" are Gmc. loan-words. The verb meaning "to put on a spit" is recorded from c.1200.
teach: O.E. tæcan (past tense and pp. tæhte) "to show, point out," also "to give instruction," from P.Gmc. *taikijanan (cf. O.H.G. zihan, Ger. zeihen "to accuse," Goth. ga-teihan "to announce"), from PIE *deik- "to show, point out" (see diction). Related to O.E. tacen, tacn "sign, mark" (see token). O.E. tæcan had more usually a sense of "show, declare, warn, persuade" (cf. Ger. zeigen "to show," from the same root); while the O.E. word for "to teach, instruct, guide" was more commonly læran, source of modern learn and lore.
tropic: late 14c., "either of the two circles in the celestial sphere which describe the northernmost and southernmost points of the ecliptic," from L.L. tropicus "of or pertaining to the solstice" (as a noun, "one of the tropics"), from L. tropicus "pertaining to a turn," from Gk. tropikos "of or pertaining to a turn or change, or to the solstice" (as a noun, "the solstice"), from trope "a turning" (see trope). The notion is of the point at which the sun "turns back" after reaching its northernmost or southernmost point in the sky. Extended 1520s to the corresponding latitudes on the earth's surface (23 degrees 28 minutes north and south); meaning "region between these parallels" is from 1837. Tropical "hot and lush like the climate of the tropics" is first attested 1834.