Harold,
Like the numbering of floors in a building, this is one area where American and British terminology differ.
What you call a 3-way switch in the U.S. is known as a 2-way switch in England (i.e. the common wire can be connected to either of two others). A typical stairway light controlled from both top and bottom is frequently called a "2-way lighting circuit."
Where extra control points are needed, the switches you call 4-way are generally called "intermediate" switches here (derived from their location on the travelers between the two 2-way switches).
I don't know when the 2-way terminology came into being, but it's certainly found in British electrical books right back as far as the 1920s.
I've never seen the 3-point and 4-point terminology, although it's possible that it was in use in the early days.
There are quite a few instances in our shared language where America retained a word/term/spelling which later fell out of use in England.
