toucher French · revision 16416

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (tuchier)|origins=la-vul *toccō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tu.ʃe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''toucher'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|tuchier]] (1080), ''tochier'' (about 1155) and ''touchier''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ Anglo-Norman ''tocher'', ''thucher'', ''tuscher''.^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|tochier]], [[inh|la-vul|*toccō|t=to knock, strike]], probably an onomatopoeic formation “to go “toc””, which every Romance language kept at the expense of classical [[la|tangō|t=to touch]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|13/2, 3a)^(Petit Robert 2007) The original sense “to strike” is close to [[ro|toca|t=to sound the call to prayer with a wooden clapper]] and [[es|tocar|t=to ring bells]]; in French “to strike” gave way to “to reach” and “to touch” before the first texts.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Pierre Guiraud proposed instead a Romance “*tudicare”, from [[la|tundō|t=to beat]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Wiktionary allows a Germanic source, [[frk|*tukkōn|t=to hit, bump]], and Diez had thought of Old High German “zuchôn” “to pull”.^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|toccare]], [[oc|tocar]], [[ca|tocar]] and [[pt|tocar]]; [[toc]], [[toquer]] and [[tocsin]] come from the same sound.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) meaning “to make contact with”: ''Deus le guarit, qu'el cors ne l'ad tuchet'' (“God protected him, so that it did not touch his body”); the same text uses it of driving animals with a stick.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Contact with the hand is recorded in Philippe de Thaon (1121–1134), and sexual contact about 1145.^(TLFi) The touching king of tradition “cured” by laying on hands (1560).^(DHLF 1992) It was used of playing an instrument (about 1200), and ''toucher la corde sensible'' dates from 1774.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+

+ From the sense “to reach” came “to concern, relate to” (''en ce qui touche''), “to move, affect emotionally”, and, from 1311 and again from the 16th century, “to receive (money)”: ''toucher son salaire''.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)^(Littré 1873) ''Toucher à'' means to meddle with or begin on something (1636), and ''ne pas toucher à la nourriture'' “not to eat” is from 1564.^(DHLF 1992) The infinitive used as a noun, ''le toucher'', the sense of touch, is found from the end of the 12th century (''toukier'').^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) English borrowed the verb as ''touch'' in the 14th century.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Tuchier'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1121–1134 – Touching with the body, in Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – Playing an instrument.^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Late 12th century – ''Le toucher'', the sense of touch.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1456 – ''Toucher la main à quelqu'un''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1534 – ''Sainte-Nitouche'' in Rabelais.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1585 – “To receive money”.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+ * 1841 – ''Touche-à-tout''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|touch]], come into contact with: ''toucher un objet''.^(Le Robert)^(Larousse)

+ # To hit, reach a target: ''toucher la cible''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ # To be next to, [[m|en|adjoin]]: ''la maison touche l'église''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ # To move, [[m|en|affect]]: ''votre lettre m'a touché''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # To concern, relate to: ''en ce qui touche''.^(Littré 1873)

+ # To receive (money), [[m|en|earn]]: ''toucher un salaire''.^(Wiktionary)^(BHVF)

+ # ''Toucher à'': to meddle with; to try; to approach: ''toucher à sa fin''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(informal) S'y toucher, en toucher une'': to know a thing or two.^(Wiktionary)

+ # To play (an instrument) ''(dated)''.^(BHVF)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The sense of touch; the feel of a thing: ''doux au toucher''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A pianist's way of striking the keys, ''toucher de balle'' in sport.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(medicine)'' Examination with the fingers.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[touche]]

+ * [[toucheur]]

+ * [[attouchement]]

+ * [[retoucher]]

+ * [[sainte-nitouche]]

+ * [[touche-à-tout]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[toc]]

+ * [[toquer]]

+ * [[tocsin]]

+ * [[en|touch]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}