punt [OE] A flat-bottomed boat, a long kick, and a bet have little in common, and most dictionaries class punt as three separate words. The kind of boat you propel with a long pole is from Latin ponto, which meant ‘flat-bottomed ferry. The punt that is a bet is a much later word, from the early 18th century and coming from French ponte or Spanish ponto ‘point’. In English it first referred to a person playing a card game. Punter is mid 20th century. Punt meaning ‘a long kick’ is first recorded in the rules of football at Rugby School, home of rugby, in 1845, only 20 or so years after the game was invented. It may be from the local dialect word punt, meaning ‘to push or kick’.