[ gdw]
Although formally and perhaps even semantically the verb is very close to peindre2 (‘to push, thrust, ‘to goad, or ‘to drive, propel’), a different etymon (impingere) justifies two separate entries. When used verbally or as a gerund, the present participle, poignant, is included in this entry. However, when used as an adjective, the form is considered lexicalised (cf. its adverbial use poignanment) and therefore treated as a separate article (cf. poignant). The feminine past participle, pointe, may also be interpreted as pointé, the past participle of the related verb pointer1. As grammatical gender was often fluid in Anglo-Norman, it is virtually impossible to distinguish pointe from pointé in prose. However, poindre1 is by far the most common verb of the two.