pointe

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(pwäNt) pronunciation
n.
In ballet, dancing that is performed on the tips of the toes.

[From French pointe (des pieds), point (of the feet), tiptoe. See point.]



1. In masonry, the final treatment of joints by the troweling of mortar or a putty-like filler into the joints; also See flush pointing, recessed pointing, tuck pointing.
2. The material with which the joints are filled. 3. The removal of mortar from between the joints of masonry units and the replacing of it with new mortar; repointing.
4. In stone carving, creating points from a model and establishing their position on the stone that is to be carved.


pointe (Fr., point). In ballet, dancing on the tip of the toe, in specially designed pointe shoes that have been stiffened with glue and which allow the ballerina to balance her entire body weight on a tiny flat surface. In classical ballet pirouettes are executed on pointe, as are arabesques. Pointe work is traditionally restricted to female dancers, although some modern choreographers have put men ‘sur les pointes’ to comic effect (Bottom in Ashton's The Dream, for example). It is impossible to say for certain who was the first ballerina to dance on pointe, but both the French dancer Geneviève Gosselin and the Russian Avdotia Istomina are known to have danced on pointe before 1820. In the 1830s Marie Taglioni transformed pointe work from a mere technical trick into the perfect vehicle for expressing the ethereality of Romantic ballet. In the early 20th century the supremacy of the pointe shoe in ballet was challenged by choreographers such as Fokine, who was one of the first to abandon it in his ballets. Demi-pointe, or half point, means balancing on the ball of the foot. It is more often used in modern dance.

[PWANT] A French word synonymous with punt, the indentation in the bottom of a wine or champagne bottle.

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'pointe'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to pointe, see:
  • Ballet - pointe: dancing on tips of toes; ballerina’s dancing while maintaining continuous straight line from tips of toes to hip


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Dansk (Danish)
n. - tåspids

Nederlands (Dutch)
balletpositie op teenpunt, clou van een grap

Français (French)
n. - pointe, bout

Deutsch (German)
n. - (Stellung auf der) Fußspitze (Ballett)

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πουάντ, μύτη (του παπουτσιού του μπαλέτου), μύτη, άκρη του ποδιού

Italiano (Italian)
punta

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pointe (m) (passo de balé)

Русский (Russian)
пуант

Español (Spanish)
n. - en ballet, posición de equilibrio en puntas de pie

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - tåspets

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
脚尖

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 腳尖

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (발레) 발끝

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - トウティップ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) توازن على رأس, الإصبع في رقص الباليه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תנועת ריקוד המבוצעת על קצות הבהונות‬


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Mentioned in

piqué (dance)
Grosse Pointe (city, Michigan)
Pointe by Point (1988 Education Film)
Pointe aux Trembles (city of southern Quebec)