touch piece

noun

A coin or medallion given to someone in Britain after they had been touched by the sovereign as a cure for the king's evil.

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Meanings

nountouch piece (plural touch pieces)

plural touch pieces · alternative touchpiece

  1. historicalA coin or medallion given to someone in Britain after they had been touched by the sovereign as a cure for the king's evil.

    At home there was still a brisk traffic in the touch-pieces given to the sufferer at the royal ceremony, and subsequently worn round the neck as a souvenir or a protective amulet.

    1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 187
Cite this entry
APA

touch piece. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/touch%20piece

MLA

“touch piece.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/touch%20piece. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “touch piece,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/touch%20piece.

Source: touch piece on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.