Word
pointe
/ˈpɔɪnt/
Definition
n. the tip of the toes in ballet. It also refers to the special shoes dancers wear to stand on their toes.
n. the tip of the toes in classical ballet. Refers to the technique of dancing on the extreme tips of the toes or the reinforced shoes designed for this purpose.
Examples
“She practiced dancing on pointe for hours.”
“After years of training, the young dancer finally received her first pair of pointe shoes.”
“The choreography requires the lead soloist to maintain perfect balance while on pointe, executing a series of rapid turns that showcase her technical precision and strength.”
Examples
simple
“She practiced dancing on pointe for hours.”
contextual
“After years of training, the young dancer finally received her first pair of pointe shoes.”
complex
“The choreography requires the lead soloist to maintain perfect balance while on pointe, executing a series of rapid turns that showcase her technical precision and strength.”
Usage
Commonly used in the prepositional phrase 'on pointe' to describe the technique.
Real-World Examples
Common in science writing
“He casts ballerinas as unicorns, dressing them in golden leotards and pointe shoes with stilted forelimbs.” “DNA from a 5,000-year-old French megalithic tomb reveals that the people buried before and after a population collapse were genetically unrelated, pointing to a major migration after a devastating crisis.” Etymology
From French pointe (“point, tip”). Doublet of point, ponto, puncto, punctum, punt, and punto.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/pointe