punctual

punctual

English

Alternative forms

• punctuall (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin pūnctuālis (“relating to a point”),[1] from Late Latin pūnctus (“point”) + -ālis (adjective suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpʌŋktjʊəl/, /ˈpʌŋtjʊəl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpʌŋkt͡ʃuəl/, /ˈpʌŋt͡ʃuəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

punctual (comparative more punctual, superlative most punctual)

1. Prompt; on time.
   1. (of an event) Happening at the appointed time
   2. (of a person) Acting at the appointed time

      Luis is never late; he's the most punctual person I know.

2. (chiefly mathematics) Existing as a point or series of points
3. (linguistics) Expressing momentary action that has no duration
4. (nonstandard, Euro-English) Periodic; occasional.

   The management of the above mentioned feed sectors is subject to close co-operation with the Member States through […] punctual expert groups meetings where appropriate.

5. (dated) Observing trivial points; punctilious.

Derived terms

• punctuality
• punctualize

Related terms

• point
• pointwise
• punctilious
• punctuate
• punctuation

Translations

prompt

Arabic: دَقِيق‎ (ar) (daqīq) Asturian: puntual Azerbaijani: dəqiq (az) Belarusian: пунктуа́льны (punktuálʹny) Bulgarian: точен (bg) (točen) Catalan: puntual (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 守時／守时 (zh) (shǒushí) Czech: dochvilný, přesný (cs) Dutch: punctueel (nl), stipt (nl) Esperanto: akurata Finnish: täsmällinen (fi), ajoissa (fi), säntillinen (fi) French: ponctuel (fr) Galician: puntual German: pünktlich (de) Indonesian: tepat waktu Irish: pointeáilte, poncúil Italian: puntuale (it) Japanese: (verb, attribute) 時間を守る (jikan o mamoru) Korean: 시간-을 엄수하는 (sigan-eul eomsuhaneun) Manx: traaoil Polish: punktualny (pl) Portuguese: pontual (pt) Russian: пунктуа́льный (ru) (punktuálʹnyj) Scottish Gaelic: pongail Spanish: puntual (es) Swedish: punktlig (sv) Turkish: dakik (tr) Ukrainian: пунктуа́льний (punktuálʹnyj)

mathematics: existing as a point or series of points

Finnish: pistemäinen (fi) French: ponctuel (fr)

linguistics: expressing momentary action

Finnish: punktuaalinen

periodic; occasional

Finnish: ajoittainen (fi) French: ponctuel (fr)

References

1. “punctual, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Further reading

• punctual in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• punctual in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

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Romanian

Etymology

From French ponctuel.

Adjective

punctual m or n (feminine singular punctuală, masculine plural punctuali, feminine and neuter plural punctuale)

1. punctual

Declension

Declension of punctual

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	punctual		punctuală	punctuali	punctuale
	definite	punctualul		punctuala	punctualii	punctualele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	punctual		punctuale	punctuali	punctuale
	definite	punctualului		punctualei	punctualilor	punctualelor

Related terms

• punctualitate