Etymology

From point +‎ -er (agent noun suffix)Category:English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)#POINTER or +‎ -er (measurement suffix)Category:English terms suffixed with -er (measurement)#POINTER (sense 4).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɔɪn.tə/Category:English 2-syllable words#POINTERCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#POINTER
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɔɪn.təɹ/, /ˈpɔɪnəɹ/Category:English 2-syllable words#POINTERCategory:English 2-syllable words#POINTERCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#POINTER

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#POINTER
• Hyphenation: point‧er
• Rhymes: -ɔɪntə(ɹ)Category:Rhymes:English/ɔɪntə(ɹ)#POINTERCategory:Rhymes:English/ɔɪntə(ɹ)/2 syllables#POINTER

Noun

pointer (plural pointers)Category:English lemmas#POINTERCategory:English nouns#POINTERCategory:English countable nouns#POINTERCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#POINTERCategory:Pages with entries#POINTERCategory:Pages with 5 entries#POINTER

1. Anything that points or is used for pointing.
   1. One who points.
      • 1972, Lynn Hall, Sticks and Stones:

        The talkers and pointers had undermined him. They had touched him with the acid of their suspicions, and the corrosion spread until he himself had lost sight of the truth.

        Category:English terms with quotations#POINTER

      • 2006, Alexandre Dumas, translated by Richard Pevear, The Three Musketeers, Viking, →ISBN, pages 645–646:

        The man he addressed drew back in horror, but answered the musketeer’s words by pointing his finger. Athos offered the man a half pistole to accompany him, but the man refused. Athos went down the street that the pointer had indicated to him with his finger; […]

        Category:English terms with quotations#POINTER

      • 2010, Donald Junkins, Half Hitch, iUniverse, →ISBN:

        “Hey,” the finger pointer said, re-pointing his finger at Joe, “are you a joke or what?” / “I don't think I'm a joke.” / “Well I think you're a joke.” He dropped his hand and then lifted it again and pointed his finger at Joe's chest.

        Category:English terms with quotations#POINTER

      • 2020, J.M. Griffin, Who’s Dead, Doc?, Kensington Books, →ISBN:

        One man pointed his finger at another, nearly poking the tip of it into the man’s chest. I sidled closer and heard the pointer accuse the other man of cheating.

        Category:English terms with quotations#POINTER

   3. A teacher's pointer, pointing stick, a rod with an arrow.

      Synonym: fescue

      Hyponym: yad

   5. A needlelike component of a timepiece or measuring device that indicates the time or the current reading of the device.

      Synonyms: hand, needle

   7. (huntingCategory:en:Hunting#POINTER) A breed of hunting dog, trained to point out game.

      Coordinate terms: retriever, setter

      • 2007, American Kennel Club, The Complete Dog Book, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 30:

        Most of the early wirehaired pointers represented a combination of Griffon, Stichelhaar, Pudelpointer, and German Shorthair. The Pudelpointer was a cross between a Poodle dog and an English Pointer bitch; the Griffon and the Stichelhaar were composed of Pointer, Foxhound, Pudelpointer, and a Polish water dog.

        Category:English terms with quotations#POINTER

   8. (programmingCategory:en:Programming#POINTER) A variable that holds the address of a memory location where a value can be stored.

      Synonym: reference

      Hyponyms: dangling pointer, function pointer, null pointer

      • 1974, Donald Knuth, “Structured Programming with go to Statements”, in Computing Surveys‎, volume 6, number 5, →DOI, archived from the original on 24 August 2009, pages 261–301:

        I do consider assignment statements and pointer variables to be among computer science's "most valuable treasures."

        Category:English terms with quotations#POINTER

   10. (graphical user interfaceCategory:en:Graphical user interface#POINTER) An icon that indicates the position of the pointing device, such as a mouse.

       Synonym: cursor

       • 1995, Aaron Marcus, Nick Smilonich, Lynne Thompson, The Cross-GUI Handbook, Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, page 231:

         The system notifies the user of the progress of a task by changing the appearance of the pointer. System-busy pointers usually adopt a timepiece metaphor.

         Category:English terms with quotations#POINTER

2. (chiefly in the plural) A tip, a bit of advice.

   Synonym: advice

   The instructor gave me some pointers on writing a good paper.Category:English terms with usage examples#POINTER

   • 1964 April, “News and Comment: Auxiliaries in LT stock”, in Modern Railways, page 234:

     In a paper to the Institute of Locomotive Engineers on February 17 which ranged over the whole subject of auxiliary services on London Transport rolling stock, Mr. R. I. D. Arthurton, Mechanical Engineer (Development—Railways) London Transport Board, gave some pointers to the future on the Victoria Line and elsewhere.

     Category:English terms with quotations#POINTER

3. Something that gives a point (sharp end) to something.

   pencil pointerCategory:English terms with usage examples#POINTER

5. (in combinations) Something worth a given number of points.

   a ten-pointer

   Category:English terms with usage examples#POINTER

   • 2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport‎:

     After another penalty miss, Kvirikashvili finally found the target on 27 minutes before Flood hit back with a three-pointer of his own.

     Category:English terms with quotations#POINTER

Further reading

• pointer (dog) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• pointer (computer programming) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• pointer (user interface) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• pointer (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Petrino, Petroni, interop, protein, pterion, repoint, tropein, tropine

Etymology

From EnglishCategory:Dutch terms derived from English#POINTER pointer.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

  Category:Dutch terms with audio pronunciation#POINTER

Noun

pointer m (plural pointers, diminutive pointertje n)Category:Dutch lemmas#POINTERCategory:Dutch nouns#POINTERCategory:Dutch nouns with plural in -s#POINTERCategory:Dutch nouns with red links in their headword lines#POINTERCategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#POINTERCategory:Dutch masculine nouns#POINTERCategory:Pages with entries#POINTERCategory:Pages with 5 entries#POINTER

1. (programmingCategory:nl:Programming#POINTER) pointer

Etymology 1

From point +‎ -erCategory:French terms suffixed with -er (verbal)#POINTER, from the past participle of poindre.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from EnglishCategory:French terms borrowed from English#POINTERCategory:French terms derived from English#POINTER pointer.

Further reading

• “pointer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from EnglishCategory:Portuguese terms borrowed from English#POINTERCategory:Portuguese unadapted borrowings from English#POINTERCategory:Portuguese terms derived from English#POINTER pointer.

Pronunciation

Noun

pointer m (plural pointers)Category:Portuguese lemmas#POINTERCategory:Portuguese nouns#POINTERCategory:Portuguese countable nouns#POINTERCategory:Portuguese entries with incorrect language header#POINTERCategory:Portuguese masculine nouns#POINTERCategory:Pages with entries#POINTERCategory:Pages with 5 entries#POINTER

1. pointer (breed of hunting dog)

Further reading

• “pointer”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “pointer”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Etymology

Borrowed from EnglishCategory:Romanian terms borrowed from English#POINTERCategory:Romanian terms derived from English#POINTER pointer.

Noun

pointer m (plural pointeri)Category:Romanian lemmas#POINTERCategory:Romanian nouns#POINTERCategory:Romanian nouns with red links in their headword lines#POINTERCategory:Romanian countable nouns#POINTERCategory:Romanian entries with incorrect language header#POINTERCategory:Romanian masculine nouns#POINTERCategory:Pages with entries#POINTERCategory:Pages with 5 entries#POINTER

1. (programmingCategory:ro:Programming#POINTER) pointer
   • 2021 September 8, Wikipedia contributors, “C (limbaj de programare)”, in English Wikipedia‎, Wikimedia Foundation:

     Acești pointeri sunt foarte folositori în programarea generică.

     These pointers are very useful in generic programming.

     Category:Romanian terms with quotations#POINTER

2. (huntingCategory:ro:Hunting#POINTER) pointer (dog breed)