“…Diez (1882 : 1079), Vaananen (1967 : 240), Stein (2002) and Eckardt (2007) give evidence that punctum, micam and gutta, the antecedents of point, mie and goutte were already being used as items of minimal value in Latin, particularly in the work of Plautus and Jerome. The expression ne punctum quidam (temporis) "not a single point in time" was common in the work of Cicero and other authors ; note how, as with passum, its sense was a more general, abstract one as opposed to the concrete sense of "stitch" sometimes given.…”