'three-dot' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'elleipsis', where 'elleipein' meant 'to leave out' or 'to fall short'.

'three-dot' changed from the Late Latin and Medieval Latin 'ellipsis' (from Greek 'elleipsis') into Old French and then into modern English as 'ellipsis', with the punctuation-usage sense becoming standard in printing and typography in the modern period.

Initially, it meant 'a falling short; omission' in Greek and Latin; over time it came to be used in English both for the rhetorical/grammatical concept of omission and for the specific punctuation mark of three dots indicating omission or a pause.