different between toucher vs touched

English

Etymology

From Middle English toucher, equivalent to touch +? -er. The pejorative sense is derived from the sense of "touching" someone for money.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?t??(?)

Noun

toucher (plural touchers)

1. One who touches.
   • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, ch 4:

     We just twist up Chancery Lane, and cut along Holborn, and there we are in four minutes' time, as near as a toucher.

2. (bowls) A ball lying in contact with the jack.
3. (Tyneside, derogatory) A toucha; one who tries to get something out of others for nothing in return.

Anagrams

• Hectour, hectour, retouch

French

Etymology

From Middle French toucher, from Old French tochier, from Vulgar Latin *tucc? (“to strike; to touch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tu.?e/
• Rhymes: -e
• Homophones: touchai, touché, touchée, touchées, touchers, touchés, touchez

Noun

toucher m (plural touchers)

1. The act of touching (see below).
2. A way of touching.
3. The sense of touch, tactility.

Verb

toucher

1. (transitive) To touch (physically).

2. (transitive) To affect

3. (intransitive, followed by "à") To try, to try out.

4. (intransitive, colloquial) Short for toucher sa bille. To be skillful.

5. (transitive, money, income) to receive, to get

Conjugation

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Dutch: toucheren

References

• Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré. Dictionnaire encyclopédique. Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1952, 146th edition

Further reading

• “toucher” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle French

Verb

toucher

1. to touch

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Descendants

• French: toucher

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?t??t/
• Rhymes: -?t?t

Adjective

touched (comparative more touched, superlative most touched)

1. Emotionally moved (by), made to feel emotion (by).

   I was touched that he should remember my birthday.

   • 1845, Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil, Book 4, Chapter 1,

     "They say her Majesty is more touched about these affairs of the Chartists than anything else," said Mr Egerton.

   • 1868, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, Part 2, Chapter 42: All Alone,

     “If there is anything good or true in what I write, it isn’t mine. I owe it all to you and Mother and Beth,” said Jo, more touched by her father’s words than by any amount of praise from the world.

   • 1883, Jules Verne, Mary de Hauteville (translator), The Green Ray, Chapter XXI: A Tempest in a Cavern,

     “And you came to save me, Mr. Oliver,” answered Miss Campbell, more touched by the courage of the young man than the dangers which could still happen.

2. Slightly mentally deficient; touched in the head.
   • 1913, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Eva M. Martin (translator), The Idiot, Part III, Chapter IV,

     "Don't you see he is a lunatic, prince?" whispered Evgenie Pavlovitch in his ear. "Someone told me just now that he is a bit touched on the subject of lawyers, that he has a mania for making speeches and intends to pass the examinations. I am expecting a splendid burlesque now."

   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses, Episode 8: The Lestrygonians,

     All a bit touched. Mad Fanny and his other sister Mrs Dickinson driving about with scarlet harness.

Synonyms

• (moved): affected, emotional, moved
• (slightly mentally deficient): retarded (offensive), touched in the head

Translations

Verb

touched

1. simple past tense and past participle of touch