Etymology
1. 1290 (implied in
touching), from O.Fr.
touchier "to touch, hit, knock" (11c.), from V.L.
*toccare "to knock, strike" as a bell (cf. Sp.
tocar, It.
toccare), perhaps of imitative origin. Meaning "to get or borrow money" first recorded 1760.
Touched "stirred emotionally" is from 1340;
touching "affecting the emotions" is from 1601.
Touch and go (adj.) is recorded from 1812, apparently from the name of a tag-like game, first recorded 1655.
Touch football is first attested 1933.
Touch-me-not (1597) translates L.
noli-me-tangere.
2. From Middle English touchen, tochen, from Old French tochier (“to touch”) (whence Modern French toucher; compare French doublet toquer (“to offend, bother, harass”)), from Vulgar Latin *tuccō (“to knock, strike, offend”), from Frankish *tukkōn (“to knock, strike, touch”), from Proto-Germanic *tukkōną (“to tug, grab, grasp”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to draw, pull, lead”). Largely displaced native Middle English rinen, from Old English hrīnan (whence Modern English rine). Doublet of tuck.
3. Cognates
4. Cognate with Old High German zochhōn, zuhhōn (“to grasp, take, seize, snatch”) (whence German zucken (“to jerk, flinch”)), German Low German tucken, tocken (“to fidget, twitch, pull up, entice, throb, knock, repeatedly tap”), Middle Dutch tocken, tucken (“to touch, entice”) (whence Dutch tokkelen (“to strum, pluck”)), Old English tucian, tūcian (“to disturb, mistreat”) (whence Modern English tuck). Compare also Old High German tokkōn, tockōn (“to abut, collide”). More at tuck.
5. Via Proto-Indo-European *dewk- cognate with English tie, tow, tug, team, Latin dūcō, dux. See: Middle English '
touchen', Old French '
tochier', French '
toucher', Proto-Germanic '
*tukkōną', German, old spelling '
zucken', Dutch '
tokkelen', Old English '
tucian'.
Verbs referencing "touch"
Belize Creole toch.