poento

One Latin word, two Esperanto words, and the split is the lesson.Punkto, rank 821, is the dot: a full stop, a point in space, a decimal point, the point on a map. Poento is the point you score. They are the same Latin punctum arriving twice, once through the written language and once through the sporting one, and Esperanto keeps them apart strictly. Saying that your team scored dek punktojn will be understood and will mark you at once as a learner.

The register is games and grading. Poento lives in sport, in card games, in exams and in competitions. Poentaro is the score as a whole, the running total, and it is the word on the scoreboard. Poenti is to score, poentkarto is a scorecard, and laŭpoenta venko is a win on points. Around it sit matĉo at 2,070, konkurso at 1,626 and gajni at 764.

The other sense catches people out. La poento is also the point of a story or a joke: the thing it was all for, the punchline, what English calls the point you missed. Vi maltrafis la poenton is you missed the point. But the point in an argument, an item you are making, is not poento at all: that is punkto or argumento. English uses one word for four jobs; Esperanto asks you to decide which one you meant.