poynaunt

• poynant, punyant, ponyaunt, pugnaunt, ponyawnt, poignaunte

From Anglo-Norman puignant; equivalent to poynen +‎ -ant.

• IPA^(key): /pui̯ˈna(u̯)nt/, /punˈja(u̯)nt/, /ˈpui̯na(u̯)nt/, /ˈpunja(u̯)nt/

poynaunt

1. Sour or acidic to the taste.
   • c. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “General Prologue”, in The Canterbury Tales, lines 353–354:

     Wo was his cook, but if his ſauce were / Poynaunt and ſhaꝛp, and redy al his geere.

     Woe to his cook, except if his sauce was / sour and sharp, and all his equipment was ready.

2. Stabbing; having a sharp, spiky point.
3. Causing fright; upsetting, horrifying.

• English: poignant

• “poinaunt, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 24 April 2019.