Point1, n.
n. [Fr. pointe, point, Pr. poncha, punta, ponch, ponh, punt, point, Sp. & It. punta, punto, Pg. ponta, ponto, Lat. puncta, punctum, from pungere, to prick.]
Sense 1. That which pricks or pierces; especially, the sharp end of a piercing instrument, as of a needle, a pin, a thorn, an awl, a sword, and the like.
Sense 2. Hence, sometimes, an instrument which pricks or pierces, as a sort of needle used by engravers, etchers, lace-workers, and others;—called also pointer.
Sense 3. The mark made by the end of a sharp, piercing instrument like a needle.
Sense 4. Hence, an indefinitely small space; a mere spot clearly indicated; as, a point in space.
Sense 5. Any thing which comes to a sharp, well-defined termination; and, specifically, a small promontory, or cape; a tract of land extending into the water beyond the common shore-line.
Sense 6. An indivisible portion of time; a moment; an instant; hence, the verge. “Behold, I am at the point to die.” Gen. xxv. 32.
When time's first point begun He made all souls. Davies.
Sense 7. Whatever serves to mark progress, or to indicate a transition from one state or position to another; degree; condition; rank; as, a point of elevation, or of depression. “A point of precedence.” Selden.
Few are placed in extraordinary points of splendor. Addison.
Sense 8. That which arrests attention, or indicates the character or intention; a salient trait of character; a characteristic; a peculiarity; as, the good or bad points of a man, of a horse, of cattle.
Sense 9. A distinct position, thesis, or passage, in argument or discourse; the conclusion toward which an argument or anecdote is directed; the pith or gist of an expression or discussion.
Strange point and new! Doctrine which we would know whence learned. Milton.
Sense 10. Hence, a lively turn of thought, giving vivacity to a discourse.
With periods, points, and tropes he slurs his crimes. Dryden.
Sense 11. (Geom.) That which has neither length, breadth, nor thickness, sometimes conceived of as the limit of a line; that by the motion of which a line is conceived to be produced; that which has neither magnitude nor parts. Playfair.
Sense 12. (Punctuation.) A character used to mark the divisions of a sentence, such as a period or comma.
Sense 13. That on which one takes position, or insists as of importance; any thing which is aimed at or intended; object; end; also, a thing or truth which ought to be regarded considerately.
Point by point the treasons of his master He shall again relate. Shak.
To know the world, not love her, is thy point. Young.
Sense 14. Hence, a small affair; a minute matter of thought; a trifling concern; a punctilio.
The Frenchmen are the most delicate people in the world on points of honor, and the least delicate on points of justice. Landor.
Sense 15. (Mus.) A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time; as, (a.) (Anc. Mus.) A dot or mark distinguishing or characterizing certain tones or styles; as, points of perfection, of augmentation, &c.; hence, a note; a tune.
Sound the trumpet—not a levant, or a flourish, but a point of war. W. Scott.
(b.) (Mod. Mus.) A dot placed at the right hand of a note, to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half, as to make a semibreve equal to three minims, a minim equal to three quavers.
Sense 16. (Her.) One of the several different parts of the escutcheon which denotes the local position of figures. See ESCUTCHEON.
Sense 17. (Astron.) A fixed conventional place for reference, or zero of reckoning, in the heavens, usually the intersection of two or more great circles of the sphere, and named specifically in each case according to the position intended; as, the equinoctial points; the solstitial points; the nodal points; vertical points, &c. See EQUINOCTIAL, &c.
Sense 18. (Anc. Costume.) A tagged lace, used to tie together certain parts of the dress.
He accommodated the friar with his assistance in tying the endless number of points, as the laces which attached the hose to the doublet were then called. W. Scott.
Sense 19. (Naut.) A flat piece of braided cordage made tapering from the center to the end, used in reefing sails, and called also reef-point. Totten.
Sense 20. (pl.) (Railways.) The switch of a railway track. [Eng.] Simmonds.
☞ The word point is a general term, much used in the sciences, particularly in mathematics, mechanics, perspective, and physics, but generally either in the geometrical sense, or in that of degree, or condition of change, and with some accompanying descriptive or qualifying term, under which, in the vocabulary, the specific uses are explained; as, acting point, dead point, melting point, freezing point, accidental point, vanishing point, &c. See ACTING, DEAD, &c.
At point, on the point, as near as can be; on the verge. “Caius Sidius Geta, at point to have been taken, recovered himself so valiantly, as brought the day on his side.” Milton. — Nine points of the law, all but the tenth point, or article, of the law; the greater weight of authority;—perhaps so used with reference to the ten laws of the decalogue. “The best of Shakespeare’s dramas, King Lear, is the least fitted for representation: and even for the vilest alteration, it ought, in candor, to be considered that possession is nine points of the law.” De Quincey. — Point-no-point, a style or method of proceeding, or of discussion, in which there is much of display, action, or argument, but little success. — Point of concurrence (Geom.), a point common to two lines, but not a point of tangency or of intersection, as that in which a cycloid meets its base. — Point of contrary flexure, a point at which a curve changes its direction of curvature, or at which its convexity and concavity change sides. — Point of intersection, the point at which two lines cross each other. — Point of sight (Persp.), the point in relation to the object, where, if the eye be placed, the appearance of the drawing will be the same as that of the object itself. — Point of view, position from which any thing is seen or is considered. — Points of the compass (Naut. & Geog.), the thirty-two points of division of the compass-card in the mariner’s compass; the corresponding points into which the circle of the horizon is supposed to be divided, of which the four marking the directions of east, west, north, and south, are called cardinal points, and the rest are named from their respective directions, as N. by E., N. N. E., N. E. by N., N. E., &c. — To make or gain a point, to accomplish that which was proposed; also, to make advance by a step, grade, or position. — To mark or score a point, as in billiards, cricket, &c., to note down successful hits, runs, &c. — To strain a point, to go beyond the proper limit or extent; to exceed the bounds of strict propriety or of duty;—an allusion to the points or tagged laces of ancient costume. See No. 18. — Vowel-point, in certain Eastern and ancient languages, a mark placed above or below the consonant, or attached to it, representing the vowel, or vocal sound, which precedes or follows the consonant.