Definitions of punctuation

1. The act or art of punctuating or pointing a writing or discourse; the art or mode of dividing literary composition into sentences, and members of a sentence, by means of points, so as to elucidate the author's meaning.

2. The act or art of dividing sentences by points or stops; the marks used for such division.

3. The act or art of dividing sentences by points or marks.

4. The use of significant points, as comma, period, etc.

5. The art of marking off portions of written language by points or stops.