Word of the Day

: February 16, 2008

punctilio

noun punk-TILL-ee-oh

What It Means

1 : a minute detail of conduct in a ceremony or in observance of a code

2 : careful observance of forms (as in social conduct)

punctilio in Context

Unsure of the punctilios of formal dining, Todd worried he would make a bad impression on his fiancée's parents.

Did You Know?

We'll get straight to the point: there are a number of English words that come from Latin "pungere," meaning "to prick" or "to sting." "Punctilio" is one of these words. It traces back to "pungere" by way of Italian "puntiglio" (meaning "small point," "point of honor," or "scruple"), Spanish "puntillo" (the diminutive of "punto," meaning "point"), and Latin "punctum" (also meaning "point"). The adjective "punctilious," meaning "marked by or concerned about precise accordance with the details of codes or conventions," is a close relative of "punctilio." Do you have any guesses for other "pungere" derivatives? "Punctuate," "puncture," "compunction," "punctual," and "pungent" are some of the more common ones.