poignant [LME] This comes from an Old French word that meant ‘pricking’ and derived from Latin pungere, ‘to prick’. Back in the Middle Ages you could describe a weapon as poignant, meaning that it had a sharp point. The word could also be applied to sharp tastes or smells, as in ‘a poignant sauce’ or ‘a poignant scent’. This sense is now covered by the related word pungent [L16th], which originally meant ‘very painful or distressing’ and at one time could also mean ‘telling or convincing’, as in Samuel Pepys’s reference to ‘a very good and pungent sermon’. The slim dagger called a poinard [M16th] may look as if it should be related, particularly as it is often spelt with a ‘g’ in early texts. However, this illustrates the danger of jumping to conclusions in etymologies. It gets its name from the fact that it is held in the fist, from Latin pugnus ‘fist’. This is also the source, via pugnare ‘to fight’, of pugnacious [M17th]. See also point.