punctus versus

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin pūnctus versus (literally “facing mark”).

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˌpʌŋktəs ˈvɜːsəs/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌpʌŋktəs ˈvɚsəs/

Noun

punctus versus

  1. (palaeography) A medieval punctuation mark marking the end of a sentence (approximately ;)
    • 1993, Malcolm Beckwith Parkes, Pause and Effect‎, Influences on The Application of Punctuation, page 74:
      […] moreover by turning the punctus after fiant into a punctus versus, he has repointed the two verses as a single sententia.
    • 2011 July 22, Tadao Kudouchi, edited by Akio Oizumi and Jacek Fisiak, English Historical Linguistics and Philology in Japan‎, De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 172:
      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.
    • 2015 December 23, Mary P. Richards, editor, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: Basic Readings‎, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 387:
      […] the punctus versus is used at the close of the sentence and after words introducing direct speech […]

See also
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