To treat a medical condition by inserting needles into specific points on the body; to perform acupuncture.
From Latin 'acus' (needle) + 'punctuate' (from 'pungere,' to prick or pierce). This verb form was created to describe the action of acupuncture. The '-ate' suffix is commonly used to create verbs from other parts of speech. This is a more formal or technical term than the common verb 'acupuncture.'
The root 'pungere' literally means to poke or pierce—it's also where we get 'puncture' and 'punctuation' (marks that poke through text). So acupunctuate is literally 'to poke with needles at specific points,' which is exactly what acupuncture does.
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