Point

Origin

Middle English, partly from Anglo-French, prick, dot, moment, from Latin punctum, from neuter of punctus, past participle of pungere to prick; partly from Anglo-French pointe sharp end, from Vulgar Latin puncta, from Latin, feminine of punctus, past participle

• 13th Century

Definitions

• 1a (1) : an individual detail : item (2) : a distinguishing detail <tact is one of her strong points>

b : the most important essential in a discussion or matter <missed the whole point of the joke>

c : cogency

• 2obsolete : physical condition
• 3: an end or object to be achieved : purpose <did not see what point there was in continuing the discussion>
• 4a : a geometric element that has zero dimensions and a location determinable by an ordered set of coordinates

b (1) : a narrowly localized place having a precisely indicated position <walked to a point 50 yards north of the building> (2) : a particular place : locality <have come from distant points>

c (1) : an exact moment <at this point I was interrupted> (2) : a time interval immediately before something indicated : verge <at the point of death>

d (1) : a particular step, stage, or degree in development <had reached the point where nothing seemed to matter anymore> (2) : a definite position in a scale

• 5a : the terminal usually sharp or narrowly rounded part of something : tip

b : a weapon or tool having such a part and used for stabbing or piercing: as (1) : arrowhead (2) : spearhead c (1) : the contact or discharge extremity of an electric device (as a spark plug or distributor) (2) chiefly British : an electric outlet

• 6a : a projecting usually tapering piece of land or a sharp prominence

b (1) : the tip of a projecting body part (2) : tine 2 (3) plural : the extremities or markings of the extremities of an animal especially when of a color differing from the rest of the body

c : a railroad switch

d : the head of the bow of a stringed instrument

• 7: a short musical phrase; especially : a phrase in contrapuntal music
• 8a : a very small mark

b (1) : punctuation mark; especially : period 5a (1) (2) : decimal point

• 9: a lace for tying parts of a garment together used especially in the 16th and 17th centuries
• 10: one of usually 11 divisions of a heraldic shield that determines the position of a charge
• 11a : one of the 32 equidistant spots of a compass card for indicating direction

b : the difference of 111⁄4 degrees between two such successive points

c : a direction indicated by a compass point <from all points of the compass>

• 12: a small detachment ahead of an advance guard or behind a rear guard
• 13a : needlepoint 1

b : lace made with a bobbin

• 14: one of 12 spaces marked off on each side of a backgammon board
• 15: a unit of measurement: as a (1) : a unit of counting in the scoring of a game or contest (2) : a unit used in evaluating the strength of a bridge hand

b : a unit of academic credit c (1) : a unit used in quoting prices (as of stocks, bonds, and commodities) (2) plural : a percentage of the face value of a loan often added as a placement fee or service charge (3) : a percentage of the profits of a business venture (as a motion-picture production)

d : a unit of about 1⁄72 inch used especially to measure the size of type

• 16: the action of pointing: as a : the rigidly intent attitude of a hunting dog marking game for a gunner

b : the action in dancing of extending one leg and arching the foot so that only the tips of the toes touch the floor

• 17: a position of a player in various games (as lacrosse); also : the player of such a position
• 18: a number thrown on the first roll of the dice in craps which the player attempts to repeat before throwing a seven — compare missout, pass 13
• 19: credit accruing from creating a good impression <scored points for hard work>

Description

In geometry, topology and related branches of mathematics a spatial point is a primitive notion upon which other concepts may be defined. In geometry, points have neither volume, area, length, nor any other higher dimensional analogue. Thus, a point is a 0-dimensional object. In branches of mathematics dealing with set theory, an element is often referred to as a point. A point could also be defined as a sphere which has a diameter of zero.[1]