point [ME] Most senses of point ultimately derive from Latin punctum ‘a small hole made by pricking’, giving rise to the meanings ‘unit, mark, point in space or time’, from pungere ‘to pierce or prick’. From the same source are punctuation [M16th] which makes small marks on the text; punctual [LME] arriving at the right point in time; punctilious [E17th] attending to the small points in behaviour; and puncture [LME] a small hole. A boxer wins on points [L19th] when he wins because the referee and judges have awarded him more points than his opponent, rather than by a knockout. The point of no return [M20th] is the point in a flight at which it is impossible for an aircraft to return to its point of departure because of lack of fuel and so it has no choice but to continue. Point-blank [L16th] literally describes a shot or bullet fired from very close to its target, blank being used here in the old sense of ‘the white spot in the centre of a target’. If you aim or point a gun directly at the centre of the target, you need to be sufficiently close for the bullet still to be travelling horizontally (rather than starting to follow a downward trajectory) as it hits the spot. The more general meaning arose as far back as the 1650s. See also poignant.