Pŭnct'ū-al, a.
(pŭnk't/yŭ-al), a. [Lat. punctus, punctum, a point; Fr. punctal, Sp. puntual, It. puntuale, Fr. ponctuel.]
Sense 1. Consisting in a point. [Rare.] “This punctual spot.” Milton.
Sense 2. Observant of nice points; punctilious; exact.
He keeps an exact journal of all that passes, and is punctual to tediousness in all he relates. Burnet.
So much on punctual niceties they stand. Pitt.
Sense 3. Especially, adhering to the exact time of an appointment; prompt; precise in observing an engagement; as, a punctual man.
Sense 4. Occurring, made, or returning, at the appointed time; as, a punctual payment. “The undeviating and punctual sun.” Cowper.
These sharp strokes [of a pendulum], with their inexorably steady intersections, so agree with our successive thoughts that they seem like the punctual stops counting off our very souls into the past. J. Martineau.