What does touchstone mean?

Definitions for touchstone
ˈtʌtʃˌstoʊntouch·stone

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word touchstone.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. standard, criterion, measure, touchstonenoun

    a basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated

    "the schools comply with federal standards"; "they set the measure for all subsequent work"

Wiktionary

  1. touchstonenoun

    A stone used to test the quality of gold alloys.

  2. touchstonenoun

    A standard of comparison or evaluation.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Touchstonenoun

    Etymology: touch and stone;pierre de touche, Fr.

    Chilon would say, that gold was tried with the touchstone, and men with gold. Francis Bacon, Apophth.

    If he intends to deal clearly, why does he make the touchstone faulty, and the standard uncertain. Collier.

    Is not this their rule of such sufficiency, that we should use it as a touchstone to try the orders of the church? Richard Hooker.

    The work, the touchstone of the nature, is;
    And by their operations things are known. Davies.

    Money serves for the touchstone of common honesty. Roger L'Estrange.

    Time is the surest judge of truth: I am not vain enough to think I have left no faults in this, which that touchstone will not discover. John Dryden, Spanish Fryar.

ChatGPT

  1. touchstone

    A touchstone is a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized. It can also refer to a fundamental or quintessential part or feature of something. In historical contexts, a touchstone was a black siliceous stone used to test the purity of gold or silver by the color of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with either metal.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Touchstonenoun

    lydian stone; basanite; -- so called because used to test the purity of gold and silver by the streak which is left upon the stone when it is rubbed by the metal. See Basanite

  2. Touchstonenoun

    any test or criterion by which the qualities of a thing are tried

Wikidata

  1. Touchstone

    A touchstone is a small tablet of dark stone such as fieldstone, slate, or lydite, used for assaying precious metal alloys. It has a finely grained surface on which soft metals leave a visible trace.

Suggested Resources

  1. touchstone

    Song lyrics by touchstone -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by touchstone on the Lyrics.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. TOUCHSTONE

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Touchstone is ranked #15391 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Touchstone surname appeared 1,905 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Touchstone.

    86.5% or 1,648 total occurrences were White.
    7.8% or 149 total occurrences were Black.
    2.8% or 55 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    1.7% or 34 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    0.6% or 12 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    0.3% or 7 total occurrences were Asian.

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How to pronounce touchstone?

How to say touchstone in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of touchstone in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of touchstone in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of touchstone in a Sentence

  1. French Proverb:

    Adversity is the touchstone of friendship.

  2. Matthias Wivel:

    They're touchstone paintings in the development of European painting, they were incredibly famous in their day and indeed inspired artists for generations.

  3. Walther Collection curator Brian Wallis:

    What's interesting about Sander as a touchstone is he's not really one or the other, you can take the very same picture, and find a very positive social statement or a very critical one, depending on how you look at it.

  4. Bertrand Russell:

    The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as in poetry.

  5. Kelley Paul:

    We sort of had this touchstone where we connect and are reminded of how important those friendships are to us.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

touchstone#10000#31130#100000

Translations for touchstone

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"touchstone." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/touchstone>.

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