poignant
/ˈpɔɪnjənt/POYN-yuhnt
/ˈpɔɪnjənt/POYN-yuhnt
Meaningpricking
Common meaning: keenly moving or sad
- poignto prick, pierceLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1491 · scan
- antadjective ending: being
Journey through time
- Latinpungō, pupugī, pūnctum‘to prick, pierce’
- Frenchspelling
- Englishpoignant‘keenly moving or sad’ · today
poign also in: pungentpunctualpunctuation
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin pungō ‘to prick, pierce’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry pungō, p. 1491 · dictionary scan
Roots
- pungō, pupugī, pūnctum Latin “to prick, pierce”
Related words
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