touch

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tʌtʃ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English touchen, tochen,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French tochier (“to touch, hit, knock; to mention, deal with”) (modern toucher),^[2][4] from Vulgar Latin *toccāre (“to knock, strike, as a bell”),^[2][4][3] the source also of Spanish and Portuguese tocar and Italian toccare,^[2][4] probably of imitative origin, from a syllable toc.^[4][5][3] Some have derived the Romance words from Germanic words meaning “to pull, twitch”, such as Old High German zucchen, but the shift from “pull” to “strike” is unexplained, and most modern etymologists prefer the imitative origin.^[4] The OED compares the passage from “knock, strike” to “touch” with English thrust and push becoming put: a stroke at its lightest is a mere touch.^[2] The noun is from Old French touche, from the verb.^[4][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To put the hand or finger on so as to feel; to bring into contact”: about 1300,^[2][7] probably before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder;^[4] the noun, “the making of contact; a blow”, is also from about 1300.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

From about 1300 the verb also meant “to concern, pertain to”, and in the late 14th century “to border on” and “to reach, attain”.^[2] The noun is the sense of touch from the late 14th century.^[2] In music the manner of playing an instrument is touch from the 14th century, of the piano from 1816,^[2] and in painting skill with the brush by 1815.^[2] The testing of gold on a touchstone, from the mid-16th century, led to the sense “a small quantity”, a touch of, in the 1580s.^[2][8] A slight attack of an illness is from the 1660s.^[2] Touched meant “emotionally moved” from the late 16th century and “slightly mad” from the late 17th.^[8] In 19th-century criminal slang touch covered ways of getting money from people, and a soft touch is an easy mark, from the early 20th century.^[8] In touch and out of touch, of communication, are from 1884.^[2] Fencers' touché, “touched!”, is from the late 19th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – verb, to put the hand on; noun, contact.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – the sense of touch.^[2]
• mid-16th century – touchstone.^[8]
• 1580s – a small quantity.^[2]
• 1660s – a slight attack of illness.^[2]
• late 17th century – touched, slightly mad.^[8]
• 1816 – a pianist's touch.^[2]
• 1884 – in touch.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To put the hand or another part of the body on something.
2. To be or come into contact with.
3. To affect the feelings of; to move: a touching story.
4. To deal with or mention briefly: touch on a subject.
5. To handle or use, or to harm: don't touch my things.
6. To equal in quality: no one can touch her.

Noun

1. The act of touching; contact.
2. The sense by which pressure on the skin is felt; the way something feels.
3. A small amount or trace: a touch of salt.
4. A manner or skill, as of a musician or artist.
5. Communication: keep in touch.
6. (rugby, soccer) The area outside the touchlines.

Word family

• touchable
• touchableness
• toucher
• touchless
• touch-and-go
• touch-me-not
• touchdown
• touchwood

Related words

• touchy
• touching
• touchstone
• touché
• toccata
• tocsin

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press