Etymology: Apparently shortened < puncheon n.¹ Compare post-classical Latin punchus piercing tool (1295 in a British source). Compare earlier pounce n.¹

Etymology: < punch v.¹

Etymology: Apparently < Sanskrit pañca (also with vernacular pronunciation pañc) in pañcāmṛta, literally ‘five nectars (of the gods)’, combination of five medicaments, so called on account of its five ingredients, i.e. milk, curd, butter (probably ghee), honey, sugar (probably molasses) < pañca five adj. + āmṛta , plural of āmṛt nectar ( < the same Indo-European base as ambrosia n.); perhaps compare also Sanskrit pañcapātra set of five glass bowls for libations; the Sanskrit collective compounds would usually have been written and thought of as separate words. Compare French punch (1674; also ponche), Spanish ponche (1737), Portuguese ponche (second half of the 18th cent.), Dutch punch (1721; also †pons, †puns), German Punsch (c1700), Swedish punsch (1710 as poins), Danish punch (first half of the 18th cent.), all ultimately < English.Compare also earlier French †bolleponge (1653), †bouleponge (1672 in the passage translated in quot. 1672), †bolponze (1682 in the passage translated in quot. 1687), etc., Dutch †palepunsen (1651 in the source of quot. 1662²), †paleponts (1670), †boerepons (1675), †follepons (1682), etc., German †Palepuntzen (1656 in the passage translated in quot. 1662²), †Pulebunze (1662), †Palepuntz (1669), etc., all in the same sense and occasionally borrowed into English, apparently representing an imperfect (perhaps originally local South Asian) adaptation of English bowl o’ punch , a phrase already very common in the 17th cent. (although not found quite as early as these adaptations: see sense 1b); compare:1653 F. de La Boullaye le Gouz Les Voy. et Observ. 516 Bolleponge est vn mot Anglois, qui signifie vne boisson dont les Anglois vsent aux Indes faite de sucre, suc de limon, eau de vie, fleur de muscade, & biscuit rosty.1662 J. J. Saar Ost-Indianische funfzehen-jährige Kriegs-Dienst 54 Fürs Dritte, Pule bunze getituliret, von halb Wasser, halb Brandwein, dreyssig, viertzig Limonien, deren Körnlein ausgeseyet werden, und ein wenig Zucker eingeworfen.1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo i. 18 in Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors [In 1638 at Surat] every man was at liberty..to drink Palepuntz [Fr. Palepuntz, Ger. Palepuntzen], which is a kind of drink consisting of Aquavitæ, Rose-water, juice of Citrons and Sugar.1672 H. Oldenburg tr. F. Bernier Contin. Mem. conc. Empire Great Mogol IV. 154 Bouleponge is a certain beverage made of Arac, that is, of strong water, black Sugar, with the Juice of Limon water, and a little Muscadine upon it.1676 J. Worlidge Vinetum Britannicum 10 Pale-puntz, here [i.e. in England] vulgarly known by the name of Punch; a Drink..very usual amongst those that frequent the Sea, where a Bowl of Punch is an usual Beverage.1683 J. Morrison tr. J. J. Struys Perillous Voy. iii. xxxvi. 350 There are many Strangers who destroy themselvs with drinking of a Liquor much in use there called Palepunshen [Du. palepunschen], being compounded of Arak, Sugar, and Raisins.1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 96 The Francks use a Beverage there [i.e. in Persia], which they call a Bowl of Punch [Fr. Bolponze], and is cooling. The etymology given above was questioned in N.E.D. (1909) on the grounds that punch was in the early 17th cent. pronounced not with the u in punt , but with the u in pull , put ; such a pronunciation of the vowel of course being unlikely to represent the a of the proposed etymon. In support of this objection it was observed that: (i) punch is pronounced with the u of pull in the north of England, and was so pronounced by Dr Johnson (compare quot. 1791 at punchbowl n. 1); but northern speakers encountering the word would be likely to replace the phoneme /ʌ/, not used in their speech, with /ʊ/, its normal equivalent in most words and particularly in this word's homonyms; (ii) the 17th-cent. foreign renderings Dutch palepunts , German Palepuntz , etc. would imply such a pronunciation; on the other hand, they might merely reflect the English spelling. As regards the early 17th-cent. pronunciation of the ‘short’ u sound, although the earliest orthoepistical testimony to the emergence of the /ʌ/ phoneme in standard English dates from c1640, there is ample evidence that the phoneme existed in nonstandard speech from the late 16th cent. (see further E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunc. 1500–1700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. §93); moreover a number of other 17th-cent. loanwords with South Asian etymons containing the Hindi (or Sanskrit) vowel a have the /ʌ/ sound in English and very early forms spelt with u , though none quite as early (compare pukka adj. and n., punkah v., mulmul n., tussore n.). The earliest spelling paunche (see quot. 1600 at sense 1a), if au is interpreted as /ɑː/, would also favour derivation from the Sanskrit word. C. B. Mount in Notes & Queries (1905) 10th ser. 4 401 (18 Nov., and subsequent articles to 27 Jan. 1906), notes the prevalence of punch as a seaman's drink in early use, and suggests that the word originated not in India, but on the way there, as a sailors' shortening of puncheon n.², but there is no evidence for this view.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps shortened < puncheon n.²; compare German regional (Bavaria and Austria) Punze , Punzen , both in sense ‘short fat person or thing’ (transferred uses respectively of Punze , Punzen , both in sense ‘cask’: see puncheon n.²). Or perhaps shortened < Punchinello n. (compare sense 2 at that entry).A connection with bunch n.¹ seems unlikely.

Etymology: Shortened < Punchinello n.The etymology of sense 2 is disputed: the name of the periodical was probably suggested by a Punch and Judy show in Trafalgar Square, London, within sight of the windows of the room where the founders met; however, an alternative etymology derives the name from the drink (see punch n.³) with punning allusion to the surname of Mark Lemon, the first editor; see further M. H. Spielmann Hist. ‘Punch’ (1895) 24–5. The first issue explicitly refers to ‘our prototype, merry Master Punch’ (see sense 1a), and a cartoon depiction of the puppet show appears on the cover.

Etymology: Probably < punch n.¹ (although this is first attested later). Compare Middle French ponchonner (see pounce v.¹), and also Old Occitan ponchar to mark with a point (late 13th cent.), to prick, pierce (1400), Catalan punxar to prick (1416), Spanish punzar to prick (a1250 as punçar ; also †punchar (1396)), Portuguese punçar to puncture (1615), Italian ponzare to stiffen, strain, labour (a1565), all apparently formed from the respective nouns (see puncheon n.¹). Compare slightly later pounce v.¹

Etymology: < punch n.³