toccare

Forms

toccare (first-person singular present tócco, first-person singular past historic toccài, past participle toccàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *toccāre (“to knock, to tap lightly with the hand”), formed on the imitative sound sequence ⟨tocc-⟩, the knock of a blow.^[2][3][4][5] DELI calls this, first proposed by Schuchardt in 1896, the common opinion.^[3] The verb is panromance: French toucher, Occitan tocar, Catalan tocar, Spanish tocar, Portuguese tocar, Sardinian toccare and Romanian toca (“to beat; to chop”).^[2][6] Meyer-Lübke files these under a sound word ⟨tok⟩, “blow”, and in many of the languages the verb still means “to knock” or “to ring”.^[6] The verb is also found in Medieval Latin texts.^[7][8]

Other etymologies have been proposed.^[3] Nigra and Ascoli derived the verb from a Latin *tudicāre, from tundō (“to beat”), with the sense “to tap lightly”;^[3] Nicholson in 1929 suggested turbinō (“to whirl”), and Pisani in 1951 a *taccāre from a frequentative of tangō (“to touch”).^[3] The older view, held by Diez and Zaccaria, was a Germanic verb Proto-Germanic *tukkōn (“to jerk, to pull”), related to Old High German zucchōn;^[9][10] Körting found the meaning hard to reconcile with that source.^[9][10] Wiktionary leaves the choice open between an onomatopoeia and Frankish *tukkōn (“to touch, to hit”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Contrasto of Cielo d'Alcamo, before 1250, in the sense “to feel or press with the hand”.^[3][4] DEI's first author is Guido Guinizzelli.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The senses multiplied in the 14th century: Dante used the verb for coming close enough to touch something and for treating a subject briefly, the commentator known as the Ottimo for playing an instrument, Boccaccio for using or tampering with things and for falling to someone's lot, and Boccaccio and Petrarch for moving someone's feelings.^[3] San Bernardino da Siena, before 1444, used it for “to happen”, and Ramusio before 1557 for “to concern”.^[3] The sense of playing an instrument by touching it is above all Ibero-Romance, and, from it come toccata, the keyboard piece (before 1712, Magalotti), and tocco, the stroke of a bell.^[2][3] Since in the medieval reckoning one stroke marked the sixth hour, about midday, il tocco came to mean one o'clock in Tuscany.^[3][2]

The participle tocco “touched” gave the adjective meaning “a bit mad”, short for toccato nel cervello, and toccante “moving” was long rejected by purists as a copy of French touchant.^[3][2] Toccare ferro, to touch iron against bad luck, is recorded by Panzini in 1931, the Italian counterpart of French toucher du bois.^[7] English took the musical term toccata in 1724, and German formed tokkieren, a painter's word for retouching, in 1774–86.^[7][11]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Cielo d'Alcamo uses toccare “to touch with the hand”.^[3]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for treating a subject briefly.^[3]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “to fall to someone's lot” and “to tamper with”.^[3]
• Before 1444 – San Bernardino da Siena uses it for “to happen”.^[3]
• 1685 – Toccante “moving” is recorded in Salvini.^[3]
• Before 1712 – Magalotti uses toccata for a keyboard piece.^[3]
• 1724 – English borrows toccata.^[7]
• 1858 – Toccasana “cure-all” is recorded.^[3]
• 1931 – Panzini records toccare ferro.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To touch: to bring the hand, another part of the body or an object into contact with someone or something: Non toccare il forno, scotta!^[4][5][12]
2. (transitive) Of things, to be in contact with: La libreria tocca il soffitto.^[4][5]
3. (transitive) To reach a place or a level: toccare terra, il lago ha toccato il livello più basso da anni.^[5][13]
4. (transitive) To use, handle or tamper with: Chi ha toccato le mie carte?^[4][12]
5. (transitive, figurative) To move or affect someone's feelings, or to hurt them where it matters to them.^[4][14]
6. (transitive, figurative) To concern: la faccenda mi tocca da vicino.^[4][3]
7. (transitive) To mention or deal briefly with a subject: toccare un argomento.^[3][14]
8. (intransitive, + a) To fall to someone, to be someone's turn or duty: Adesso tocca a te.^[1][3][5]
9. (intransitive) To have to: Mi è toccato rifare tutto.^[3][5]
10. (intransitive) To happen to, to befall: gli è toccata una bella fortuna.^[3][14]

Word family

• tocco
• toccata
• toccante
• toccato
• toccabile
• toccamento
• toccasana
• toccaferro
• toccamano
• ritoccare
• ritocco
• rintoccare
• rintocco
• intoccabile

Related words

• French toucher
• English touch

Usage notes

Set phrases include toccare ferro (touch wood), toccare con mano (to see for oneself), toccare il fondo (to hit rock bottom) and toccare il cielo con un dito (to be overjoyed).^[4][5][14] The literary past participle is tocco.^[14][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3807
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
11. ^ Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli