| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| spontoon |
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| SYLLABICATION: | spon·toon |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  sp n-t n |
| NOUN: | A short pike carried by infantry officers and sergeants in the 18th century. | | ETYMOLOGY: | French sponton, from Italian spuntone : s-, intensive pref.; see sforzando + puntone, kind of weapon, augmentative of punto, point (from Latin p nctum, from neuter past participle of pungere, to pierce, prick; see peuk- in Appendix I).
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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