punctus versus en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˌpʌŋktəs ˈvɜːsəs/ (UK)
- /ˌpʌŋktəs ˈvɚsəs/ (US)
Etymology
From Medieval Latin pūnctus versus (literally “facing mark”).
Meanings
-
A medieval punctuation mark marking the end of a sentence (approximately ;)
Thus the basic punctuation marks used in English manuscripts of the eleventh-thirteenth centuries are: the simple point, the punctus elevatus, the punctus versus, and the punctus interrogativus.
2011 July 22, Tadao Kudouchi, edited by Akio Oizumi and Jacek Fisiak, English Historical Linguistics and Philology in Japan, De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 172:[…]moreover by turning the punctus after fiant into a punctus versus, he has repointed the two verses as a single sententia.
1993, Malcolm Beckwith Parkes, Pause and Effect, Influences on The Application of Punctuation, page 74:[…]the punctus versus is used at the close of the sentence and after words introducing direct speech[…]
2015 December 23, Mary P. Richards, editor, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: Basic Readings, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 387:
Relateds
punctus flexus · punctus elevatus · punctus circumflexus · punctus · punctus interrogativus