punctuation

American  

[puhngk-choo-ey-shuhn] / ˌpʌŋk tʃuˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the practice or system of using certain conventional marks or characters in writing or printing in order to separate elements and make the meaning clear, as in ending a sentence or separating clauses.

2. the act of punctuating.

3. punctuation marks.

4. Biology. the sudden or accelerated extinction of some species and emergence of others, occurring only in isolated periods, as set forth in the theory of punctuated equilibrium.

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punctuation British  

/ ˌpʌŋktjʊˈeɪʃən /

noun

1. the use of symbols not belonging to the alphabet of a writing system to indicate aspects of the intonation and meaning not otherwise conveyed in the written language

2. the symbols used for this purpose

3. the act or an instance of punctuating

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Other Word Forms

• nonpunctuation
  noun
• repunctuation
  noun
• punctuational
  adjective
• punctuative
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of punctuation

First recorded in 1530–40; from Medieval Latin pūnctuātiōn- (stem of pūnctuātiō ) “a marking, pointing”; see punctuate, -ion

Explanation

Punctuation is marking that clarifies sentences. if you write a sentence that is a string of words even if theyre good words but you do it without punctuation then it will look like this making your reader unhappy Punctuation tells you when a sentence has come to an end, or if it's a question, and you can't write a sentence without at least one punctuation mark: the period. You can also use punctuation to talk about non-verbal emphasis. If you tell your dog to stop chewing your shoe, you might stamp your foot as punctuation. A slow speaker who chews slightly at the end of each sentence has an unfortunate kind of punctuation.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

punctuation

Whether the added punctuation has the effect the author imagines, she’s not wrong to point out that editorial decisions, once made, tend “to stick, informing how future readers will interpret a story or character.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

I had hoped the bangs would repel him, but my new facial accessory failed to be a punctuation between us in the way I’d imagined.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

If L7 was a statement, Finch was its punctuation, her crayon-bright hair complementing a radiant humanity.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

One note: We have changed some capitalization, spelling and punctuation; no need to make this even harder than it is.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

Blood managed the accounting and worked as Woodhull’s secretary, often writing documents for her, because she had never learned elegant penmanship or proper punctuation.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling