means A variable that stores the memory address of another value rather than the value itself, letting code refer to data by where it lives instead of carrying it around.

from From the verb 'point,' which came through Old French 'pointe' from Latin 'pungere,' to prick or pierce — the same root that gives us 'puncture' and 'pungent.' A pointer is literally a thing that points, the agent-noun built with '-er.' The breed of dog that freezes and aims its nose at game wears the same name, and computing simply borrowed the everyday gesture: a value whose whole job is to indicate 'over there.'