touchstonen.adj.

Brit.

/ˈtʌtʃstəʊn/, U.S.

/ˈtətʃˌstoʊn/

Forms: see touch n. and stone n.; also 1500s twichstone, 1500s–1600s tuchstone; also Scottish pre-1700 towtchstone, pre-1700 tuitchstone, pre-1700 tweichstaine.

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding; perhaps modelled on a French lexical item. Etymons: touch n., stone n.

Etymology: < touch n. + stone n., perhaps after Middle French pierre de touche (a1389, earliest in sense A. 2a; 1579 in extended use; French pierre de touche ). Compare Spanish piedra de toque (second half of the 16th cent. in concrete and figurative senses), and also Middle French pierre à toucher or (1416), touchepiarre (1474). Compare slightly earlier touch n. 3a.In spite of the chronology of the examples, it is likely that sense A. 1 shows a development from sense A. 2a.

A. n.

1. Fine-grained dark stone used for building and monumental work; esp. a type of black marble. Cf. touch n. 4. Now historical.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > other stone used in industry or construction

ragsa1350

ragstone?c1425

touchstone1482

hardstone1549

tarso1662

weather-stone1686

rumlar1829

ballast1839

bluestone1849

workstone1906

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > marble > black

touch1423

jetc1440

touchstone1482

toucha1509

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > metamorphic rock > [noun] > marble > black

touch1423

touchstone1482

Lucullean marble1601

paragona1684

1482–3 Accts. Exchequer King's Remembrancer (P.R.O.: E101/496/26) m. 3 Ultra lv doliis lapidum de Cane..& xxxiij doliis de Touchstone.

1517 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1928) xxxv. 183 In to the castell of olde foundacyon Walled aboute with the blacke touche stone.

1584 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 294 The pece of tutch stone w^ch my Ladye Bacon hath gyven vnto this woorke.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 484 Vpon the steps of the capitol of Rome, ther were two lions of black Marble touch-stone.

a1647 T. Habington Surv. Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.) (1895) I. i. 102 All..wrytten in Tuchstone with letters of goulde.

1670 J. Pettus Fodinæ Regales 1 If common Stones onely are found (as Marble, Touchstone, Freestone, etc.) we call them Quarries, and not Mines.

1769 New & Compl. Hist. Essex II. 111 John..was buried at Hedingham under a tomb of touchstone marble.

1845 J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Archit. (ed. 4) I. 375 Touch-stone,..a name sometimes applied to compact dark-coloured stones, such as Purbeck and Petworth marble,..frequently used for fine work in Gothic architecture.

1904 R. Blomfield Short Hist. Renaissance Archit. in Eng. i. 8 Torrigiano was to make a tomb of white marble and black touchstone for Henry VIII.

1992 R. Helgerson Forms of Nationhood (1994) i. 40 Buildings adorned with touchstone and marble.

a. Fine-grained black stone (typically a type of chert) upon which objects made of gold or silver can be rubbed to determine their purity; a piece of this. Cf. touch n. 3a.Also called basanite and Lydian stone.The touchstone was originally used in conjunction with a set of touch needles of known purity, allowing visual comparison of the mark left on the stone by the object being assayed with those of the touch needles. Later the touch needles were replaced by the use of acid solutions which remove or alter the appearance of the object's mark.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > metalworking equipment > [noun] > equipment for testing quality of metal

needle1469

touchstone1530

parting glass1594

proof needle1683

stroking needle1683

touch needle1683

Lydian-stone1720

scorifier1758

sebilla1839

sonometer1849

quantometer1927

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement iii. f. lxxi/1 Touche stone to proue golde with.

?1572 T. Paynell tr. Treasurie Amadis of Fraunce Ded. sig. ¶.iiij^v As Golde is golde true touchstone tryeth at euerie ryme and season, And dothe refyne the good from bad.

1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles vi. 42 The fift, an Hand enuironed with Clouds, Holding out Gold, that's by the Touch-stone tride: The motto thus: Sic spectanda fides .

1696 N. Barbon Disc. Coining New Money 23 To judge of the difference of the fineness of the several Coins by the Touchstone, and colour of the Metal.

1755 Philos. Trans. 1754 (Royal Soc.) 48 664 The difference in colour of these compositions was much less conspicuous on the touchstone.

1812 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs ii. 222 Touchstone is the Basaltes, a heavy hard stone, of a very fine texture, of a deep glossy black resembling that of polished steel.

1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 727 The colour of the stroke made upon the touchstone by the metal under examination.

1958 M. Boas Robert Boyle & 17th Cent. Chem. iv. 128 His tests for gold are those of the goldsmith: the use of the touchstone, specific gravity, the fact that gold will dissolve in aqua regia but not in aqua fortis.

2000 L. C. Jones tr. C. Codina Compl. Bk. Jewelry Making (2006) 17/1 In a metals shop the most common method for determining the karat of gold is with the use of a touchstone.

b. figurative. Anything which serves to test the genuineness or value of anything; a test, a trial; a criterion or reference point by which something is assessed, judged, or recognized. Cf. touch n. 3c.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > trial, test, or testing > [noun] > criterion

rulec1384

meteyard?1531

touchstone?1531

plumb line1551

plummet1553

metewanda1568

touch1581

stone of touch1604

criterion1622

scale1626

criteriuma1631

measure1641

judge1642

criterie1660

foot-rule1662

mark1765

point of reference1772

metera1825

reference point1849

yardstick1869

benchmark1884

?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye sig. A2 Laye them to the touchstone and trye them with goddes worde.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ecclus. vi. 21 Vnto soch she is as it were a twichstone, & he casteth her from him in all the haist.

1612 J. Boys Autumne Part 146 It is an axiome that will abide the touchstone, whosoeuer is a good man is a wise man.

1677 tr. A.-N. Amelot de La Houssaie Hist. Govt. Venice 106 Therefore it is that Venice is called the School and Touchstone of Embassadors.

a1720 J. Sheffield Wks. (1753) II. 207 Time..in all matters of writing, is the only true touchstone of merit.

1788 J. O'Keeffe Farmer ii. ii. 25 Let your empty Pocket now convince you that Distress is the Touchstone of Friendship.

1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk I. xi. 253 Well-digested schemes will stand the touchstone of experience.

1871 J. S. Blackie Four Phases Morals i. 42 The touchstone..to distinguish the true man..from the false pretender.

1928 J. Galsworthy Swan Song ii. viii. 172 The vote..was it not the touchstone of democracy?

1978 B. Arnold Singer at Wedding i. 27 Being of a certain ‘kind’; being ‘our kind’, or ‘not our kind’, had been a touchstone used by him on many occasions.

2015 City A.M. (Nexis) 4 June 52 Fashion, literature and music are the cultural touchstones by which we navigate our recent history.

B. adj. (attributive).

Acting as a criterion or reference point by which something is assessed or judged; serving to test the genuineness or value of a thing. Cf. sense A. 2b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > trial, test, or testing > [adjective] > relating to or constituting a criterion

touchstone1655

criterial1957

1655 J. Spittlehouse Royall Advocate 20 Thinking they have No need of the Touchstone rule, or Standard of the Scriptures of the New Testament, to guide them in their Spiritual condition.

1825 B. H. Malkin Classical Disquis. & Curiosities 198 The chain of means, by which our Saviour's touchstone prophecy of the almost immediate fall of Jerusalem was to be fulfilled.

1873 Baptist Q. 7 61 It seems to me there is a touchstone principle which, if rightly applied, will solve many of our difficulties.

1959 Washington Post & Times Herald 27 Sept. 1/6 This seeming deadlock over Berlin, considered by American officials to be the touchstone issue of the Khrushchev visit to Camp David.

1993 Classic CD Oct. 14/1 The majors are sitting on often vast archives of past recorded performances, many of which are touchstone readings.

2012 Vanity Fair Mar. 388/2 For a certain 40-plus demographic..the movie became..a touchstone experience, its lines serving as passwords, signifiers of like-mindedness.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	touchstone
释义	touchstonen.adj. Brit. /ˈtʌtʃstəʊn/, U.S. /ˈtətʃˌstoʊn/ Forms: see touch n. and stone n.; also 1500s twichstone, 1500s–1600s tuchstone; also Scottish pre-1700 towtchstone, pre-1700 tuitchstone, pre-1700 tweichstaine. Origin: Formed within English, by compounding; perhaps modelled on a French lexical item. Etymons: touch n., stone n. Etymology: < touch n. + stone n., perhaps after Middle French pierre de touche (a1389, earliest in sense A. 2a; 1579 in extended use; French pierre de touche ). Compare Spanish piedra de toque (second half of the 16th cent. in concrete and figurative senses), and also Middle French pierre à toucher or (1416), touchepiarre (1474). Compare slightly earlier touch n. 3a.In spite of the chronology of the examples, it is likely that sense A. 1 shows a development from sense A. 2a. A. n. 1. Fine-grained dark stone used for building and monumental work; esp. a type of black marble. Cf. touch n. 4. Now historical. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > other stone used in industry or construction ragsa1350 ragstone?c1425 touchstone1482 hardstone1549 tarso1662 weather-stone1686 rumlar1829 ballast1839 bluestone1849 workstone1906 society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > marble > black touch1423 jetc1440 touchstone1482 toucha1509 the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > metamorphic rock > [noun] > marble > black touch1423 touchstone1482 Lucullean marble1601 paragona1684 1482–3 Accts. Exchequer King's Remembrancer (P.R.O.: E101/496/26) m. 3 Ultra lv doliis lapidum de Cane..& xxxiij doliis de Touchstone. 1517 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1928) xxxv. 183 In to the castell of olde foundacyon Walled aboute with the blacke touche stone. 1584 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 294 The pece of tutch stone w^ch my Ladye Bacon hath gyven vnto this woorke. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 484 Vpon the steps of the capitol of Rome, ther were two lions of black Marble touch-stone. a1647 T. Habington Surv. Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.) (1895) I. i. 102 All..wrytten in Tuchstone with letters of goulde. 1670 J. Pettus Fodinæ Regales 1 If common Stones onely are found (as Marble, Touchstone, Freestone, etc.) we call them Quarries, and not Mines. 1769 New & Compl. Hist. Essex II. 111 John..was buried at Hedingham under a tomb of touchstone marble. 1845 J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Archit. (ed. 4) I. 375 Touch-stone,..a name sometimes applied to compact dark-coloured stones, such as Purbeck and Petworth marble,..frequently used for fine work in Gothic architecture. 1904 R. Blomfield Short Hist. Renaissance Archit. in Eng. i. 8 Torrigiano was to make a tomb of white marble and black touchstone for Henry VIII. 1992 R. Helgerson Forms of Nationhood (1994) i. 40 Buildings adorned with touchstone and marble. 2. a. Fine-grained black stone (typically a type of chert) upon which objects made of gold or silver can be rubbed to determine their purity; a piece of this. Cf. touch n. 3a.Also called basanite and Lydian stone.The touchstone was originally used in conjunction with a set of touch needles of known purity, allowing visual comparison of the mark left on the stone by the object being assayed with those of the touch needles. Later the touch needles were replaced by the use of acid solutions which remove or alter the appearance of the object's mark. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > metalworking equipment > [noun] > equipment for testing quality of metal needle1469 touchstone1530 parting glass1594 proof needle1683 stroking needle1683 touch needle1683 Lydian-stone1720 scorifier1758 sebilla1839 sonometer1849 quantometer1927 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement iii. f. lxxi/1 Touche stone to proue golde with. ?1572 T. Paynell tr. Treasurie Amadis of Fraunce Ded. sig. ¶.iiij^v As Golde is golde true touchstone tryeth at euerie ryme and season, And dothe refyne the good from bad. 1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles vi. 42 The fift, an Hand enuironed with Clouds, Holding out Gold, that's by the Touch-stone tride: The motto thus: Sic spectanda fides . View more context for this quotation 1696 N. Barbon Disc. Coining New Money 23 To judge of the difference of the fineness of the several Coins by the Touchstone, and colour of the Metal. 1755 Philos. Trans. 1754 (Royal Soc.) 48 664 The difference in colour of these compositions was much less conspicuous on the touchstone. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs ii. 222 Touchstone is the Basaltes, a heavy hard stone, of a very fine texture, of a deep glossy black resembling that of polished steel. 1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 727 The colour of the stroke made upon the touchstone by the metal under examination. 1958 M. Boas Robert Boyle & 17th Cent. Chem. iv. 128 His tests for gold are those of the goldsmith: the use of the touchstone, specific gravity, the fact that gold will dissolve in aqua regia but not in aqua fortis. 2000 L. C. Jones tr. C. Codina Compl. Bk. Jewelry Making (2006) 17/1 In a metals shop the most common method for determining the karat of gold is with the use of a touchstone. b. figurative. Anything which serves to test the genuineness or value of anything; a test, a trial; a criterion or reference point by which something is assessed, judged, or recognized. Cf. touch n. 3c. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > trial, test, or testing > [noun] > criterion rulec1384 meteyard?1531 touchstone?1531 plumb line1551 plummet1553 metewanda1568 touch1581 stone of touch1604 criterion1622 scale1626 criteriuma1631 measure1641 judge1642 criterie1660 foot-rule1662 mark1765 point of reference1772 metera1825 reference point1849 yardstick1869 benchmark1884 ?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye sig. A2 Laye them to the touchstone and trye them with goddes worde. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ecclus. vi. 21 Vnto soch she is as it were a twichstone, & he casteth her from him in all the haist. 1612 J. Boys Autumne Part 146 It is an axiome that will abide the touchstone, whosoeuer is a good man is a wise man. 1677 tr. A.-N. Amelot de La Houssaie Hist. Govt. Venice 106 Therefore it is that Venice is called the School and Touchstone of Embassadors. a1720 J. Sheffield Wks. (1753) II. 207 Time..in all matters of writing, is the only true touchstone of merit. 1788 J. O'Keeffe Farmer ii. ii. 25 Let your empty Pocket now convince you that Distress is the Touchstone of Friendship. 1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk I. xi. 253 Well-digested schemes will stand the touchstone of experience. 1871 J. S. Blackie Four Phases Morals i. 42 The touchstone..to distinguish the true man..from the false pretender. 1928 J. Galsworthy Swan Song ii. viii. 172 The vote..was it not the touchstone of democracy? 1978 B. Arnold Singer at Wedding i. 27 Being of a certain ‘kind’; being ‘our kind’, or ‘not our kind’, had been a touchstone used by him on many occasions. 2015 City A.M. (Nexis) 4 June 52 Fashion, literature and music are the cultural touchstones by which we navigate our recent history. B. adj. (attributive). Acting as a criterion or reference point by which something is assessed or judged; serving to test the genuineness or value of a thing. Cf. sense A. 2b. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > trial, test, or testing > [adjective] > relating to or constituting a criterion touchstone1655 criterial1957 1655 J. Spittlehouse Royall Advocate 20 Thinking they have No need of the Touchstone rule, or Standard of the Scriptures of the New Testament, to guide them in their Spiritual condition. 1825 B. H. Malkin Classical Disquis. & Curiosities 198 The chain of means, by which our Saviour's touchstone prophecy of the almost immediate fall of Jerusalem was to be fulfilled. 1873 Baptist Q. 7 61 It seems to me there is a touchstone principle which, if rightly applied, will solve many of our difficulties. 1959 Washington Post & Times Herald 27 Sept. 1/6 This seeming deadlock over Berlin, considered by American officials to be the touchstone issue of the Khrushchev visit to Camp David. 1993 Classic CD Oct. 14/1 The majors are sitting on often vast archives of past recorded performances, many of which are touchstone readings. 2012 Vanity Fair Mar. 388/2 For a certain 40-plus demographic..the movie became..a touchstone experience, its lines serving as passwords, signifiers of like-mindedness. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.adj.1482
随便看	houseplace houseplant houseplants houseplot houseproud houser houseraiser houseridden houserobbing houseroom houserooms houseroomth housers houses houses of parliament houses of representatives housesat houseshare housesharer housesharing houseship houseshouldered housesin housesit housesits