punch [LME] The punch that means ‘to strike’ was first used in the sense ‘to puncture or prod’, which is probably where the term for a tool for making holes comes from. Ultimately, the word goes back to the same source as *point and *poignant. The drink punch, first mentioned in English in 1600, has a completely different source. It seems to come, via Hindi, from Sanskrit pañca ‘five, five kinds of’. The drink originally had five ingredients—strong alcohol, water, fruit juices, spices, and sugar. See also italian words.