PUNCTILIO: 1: a minute detail of conduct in a ceremony of in observance of a code 2: careful observance of social or other forms
Getting straight to the point, a number of English words come from the Latin relatives pungere (meaning "to prick" or "to sting") and punctum (meaning "point"). "Punctilio," for example, came to us through the Italian word puntiglio (meaning "small point," "point of honor," or "scruple"), which descends from the Spanish puntillo, the diminutive of punto, meaning "point." It is from "punctilio" that we get our adjective "punctilious," which means "marked by or concerned about precise accordance with the the details of codes or conventions." Other derivatives of punctum and pungere include "puncture," "compunction," "punctual," and "pungent."
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