touchstone

play

noun touch·stone \ ˈtəch-ˌstōn \

Definition of touchstone

1 :a fundamental or quintessential part or feature :basis

a touchstone film of that decade

now considered a touchstone of the city's life
—Michael Specter

2 :a test or criterion for determining the quality or genuineness of a thing

3 :a black siliceous stone related to flint and formerly used to test the purity of gold and silver by the streak left on the stone when rubbed by the metal

See touchstone defined for English-language learners

See touchstone defined for kids

touchstone was our Word of the Day on 12/14/2008. Hear the podcast!

Examples of touchstone in a Sentence

Good service is one touchstone of a first-class restaurant.
his book has long been a touchstone for travel writing that aspires to be literature

Recent Examples of touchstone from the Web

Some of them would run for years and become cultural touchstones.

— andy staples, SI.com, "The Story of Washington's 270-Pound Lineman Shows Why Chris Petersen's System Works," 28 Aug. 2017
The Roosevelt Market is a community touchstone for Boise’s East End.

— dana oland, idahostatesman, "Roosevelt Market’s building is for sale. It houses Boise’s last neighborhood market.," 28 Aug. 2017
Our elders explained the touchstones in culture that provided perspective and context for the societal phenomena being experienced even today.

— lesleigh mausi, Detroit Free Press, "Three women to convene community discussion of Detroit film on Algiers Motel killings," 14 Aug. 2017
For many conservatives, Sessions’s early endorsement of Trump served as an ideological touchstone.

— charles krauthammer, National Review, "The Consequences of the Sessions Affair," 27 July 2017
Turkish green beans Serves 6-8 This is a touchstone vegetable dish in Turkey that was incorporated into the country's Jewish cuisine generations ago.

— debbie arrington, sacbee, "Summer menus a snap with these green beans," 18 July 2017
Now a cultural touchstone, the Downtown Flying M Coffeehouse’s funky and perfectly mismatched decor, gift shop, locally roasted coffee blends and friendly baristas continue to draw a loyal following.

— hailey ross dana oland, idahostatesman, "Indulge in culinary tourism in Boise; celebrate Flying M’s 25th birthday," 6 July 2017
The Emmy-winning comedy -- about a co-dependent woman, her gay best friend, martini-swilling assistant and wacky neighbor -- became a cultural touchstone during its eight-season run.

— nardine saad, latimes.com, "The gang's all here in new 'Will & Grace' teaser," 5 July 2017
Like its counterparts across the country, the Bedford-Bedford Heights 4th of July Parade has all the cultural touchstones that symbolize our nation's path to independence.

— staff, cleveland.com, "Comment here on cleveland.com court and crime stories for Tuesday, July 4, 2017," 4 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'touchstone.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Our example sentence uses "touchstone" in its most recently acquired sense: "a fundamental part." The earlier sense, "a criterion for quality" (as in "I Love Lucy is often seen as a touchstone for comparison with today's TV comedy shows"), provides a better clue to the original meaning of "touchstone," however. The "criterion" sense, which goes back more than 470 years, alludes to a method of testing the purity of a sample of gold. The sample was rubbed on a piece of dark quartz or jasper - the "touchstone." The mark it made was compared to adjacent rubbings on the touchstone from gold of known purity. This method has proved accurate enough that touchstones are still used by jewelers today.

First Known Use of touchstone

1530

touchstone Synonyms

Synonyms

bar, barometer, benchmark, criterion, gold standard, grade, mark, measure, metric, par, standard, yardstick

Related Words

case, example, instance; average, norm, rule; acme, apex, meridian, peak, pinnacle, summit, zenith

Near Antonyms

aberration, abnormality, deviation

Synonym Discussion of touchstone

standard, criterion, gauge, yardstick, touchstone mean a means of determining what a thing should be. standard applies to any definite rule, principle, or measure established by authority.