Word of the Day: punctiform

punctiform (adj)

Shaped or formed like a point or dot.

"But with her it was different: the happiness I derived from her was the joy of being concealed, punctiform, in her, and of protecting her, punctiform, in me; it was at the same time vicious contemplation (thanks to the promiscuity of the punctiform convergence of us all in her) and also chastity (given her punctiform impenetrability)."
--Italo Calvino, Cosmicomics

Strange word, which yields a number of weird, rather icky (though safe for work) images if you click on the Google images link above.

The Calvino quote must hold the record for the number of uses of "punctiform" in a sentence. It comes from a circa 1965 short story narrated by an entity existing inside the conceptual point that contained all matter before the Big Bang, before time and space existed. (We would call it a singularity today.) That's a "state", if you will, that the human mind can't conceive of, but Calvino, by giving it a humorous voice, makes it a somewhat approachable notion.

Something else that's both punctiform and inconceivable, or nearly so: the Braille menu I saw in a fast-food restaurant recently. Just gimme those nuggets.