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OXFORD DICTIONARY
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punctuation
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun punctuation has 3 senses
- punctuation(n = noun.event) Array - something that makes repeated and regular interruptions or divisions; Array is a kind of break, interruption
- punctuation(n = noun.communication) punctuation mark - the marks used to clarify meaning by indicating separation of words into sentences and clauses and phrases; Array is a part of orthography, writing system
- punctuation(n = noun.act) Array - the use of certain marks to clarify meaning of written material by grouping words grammatically into sentences and clauses and phrases; Array has particulars: hyphenation
is a kind of mark
has particulars: ampersand, apostrophe, brace, bracket, square bracket, angle bracket, bracket, colon, comma, exclamation mark, exclamation point, dash, hyphen, parenthesis, full point, full stop, period, point, stop, interrogation point, question mark, inverted comma, quotation mark, quote, semicolon, diagonal, separatrix, slash, solidus, stroke, virgule, swung dash
Derived form verb punctuate1
is a kind of grouping
is a member of orthography, writing system
Derived form verb punctuate1
CIDE DICTIONARY
punctuation, n. [Cf. F. ponctuation.].
The act or art of punctuating or pointing a writing or discourse; the art or mode of dividing literary composition into sentences, and members of a sentence, by means of points, so as to elucidate the author's meaning. [1913 Webster]
" Punctuation, as the term is usually understood, is chiefly performed with four points: the period [.], the colon [:], the semicolon [;], and the comma [,]. Other points used in writing and printing, partly rhetorical and partly grammatical, are the note of interrogation [?], the note of exclamation [!], the parentheses [()], the dash [--], and brackets []. It was not until the 16th century that an approach was made to the present system of punctuation by the Manutii of Venice. With Caxton, oblique strokes took the place of commas and periods."
[1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
punctuation, n.
1 the system or arrangement of marks used to punctuate a written passage.
2 the practice or skill of punctuating.
1 the system or arrangement of marks used to punctuate a written passage.
2 the practice or skill of punctuating.
Idiom
punctuation mark any of the marks (e.g. full stop and comma) used in writing to separate sentences and phrases etc. and to clarify meaning.
Etymology
med.L punctuatio (as PUNCTUATE)
THESAURUS
punctuation
alphabet, ampersand, angle brackets, apostrophe, braces, colon, comma, dash, decimal point, diacritical mark, diagonal, dot, ellipsis, end stop, exclamation mark, full stop, hyphen, letter, parens, parentheses, period, point, punctuation marks, question mark, quotation marks, quotes, reference, reference mark, semicolon, single quotes, solidus, stop, tittle, virgule, writing system, written characterROGET THESAURUS
punctuation
Grammar
N grammar, accidence, syntax, praxis, punctuation, parts of speech, jussive, syllabication, inflection, case, declension, conjugation, us et norma loquendi, Lindley Murray, correct style, philology.
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