POINT, in grammar, a character used to mark the divisions of discourse. See COMMA, COLON, &c. A point proper is what we otherwise call a full stop, or period. See PUNCTUATION.
The points, or vowel points, in the Hebrew grammar, are certain characters, which in the writings of that language, serve to mark the vowels. The antiquity of these points make the subject of a celebrated controversy, some maintaining their origin to be the same with that of the Hebrew language; and others asserting them to have been first introduced by Esdras, after the Babylonish captivity, when he compiled the canon, transcribed the books into the present Chaldee character, and restored the purity of the Hebrew text. Some will have them invented by the doctors of the school of Tiberiss, usually called the massoretes, 500 or 600 years after Christ.