touch

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*dewk-“to draw, pull, lead”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*tukkōną“to tug, grab, grasp”
3. Frankish · derived from*tukkōn“to knock, strike, touch”
4. Vulgar Latin · derived from*tuccō“to knock, strike, offend”
5. Old French · derived fromtochier“to touch”
6. Middle English · inherited fromtouchen
7. English todaytouch

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. Cognates 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. Via Proto-Indo-European *dewk- cognate with English tie, tow, tug, team, Latin dūcō, dux.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 14th c. To make physical contact with; to bring the hand, finger or other part of the body into contact with.
• from 14th c. To come into (involuntary) contact with; to meet or intersect.
• from 14th c. To come into physical contact, or to be in physical contact.
• from 14th c. To make physical contact with a thing.
• from 14th c. To physically disturb; to interfere with, molest, or attempt to harm through contact.
• from 20th c. To sexually excite with the fingers; to finger or masturbate.
• from 15th c. To physically affect in specific ways implied by context.
• from 15th c. To begin to consume, or otherwise use.