touchstone

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

Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about touchstone

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Choose the Right Synonym for 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. standards of behavior criterion may apply to anything used as a test of quality whether formulated as a rule or principle or not. questioned the critic's criteria for excellence gauge applies to a means of testing a particular dimension (such as thickness, depth, diameter) or figuratively a particular quality or aspect. polls as a gauge of voter dissatisfaction yardstick is an informal substitute for criterion that suggests quantity more often than quality. housing construction as a yardstick of economic growth touchstone suggests a simple test of the authenticity or value of something intangible. fine service is one touchstone of a first-class restaurant

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.

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 on the Web

There are many other pockets of the city and region that have drawn clusters of international communities still rich with their cultural touchstones. — Craig Laban, Philly.com, "Philly's best ethnic food neighborhoods | Craig LaBan," 4 June 2018 Not in a retrospective way, but just to have that as the focus; that was the touchstone. — Joe Lynch, Billboard, "Judas Priest on New Album 'Firepower,' Their 'Beatles Moment' & Being Out In Metal," 9 Mar. 2018 My touchstones are Jean-Michel Frank, Giacometti, and Billy Baldwin. — David A. Keeps, House Beautiful, "Designers Hillary Thomas and Jeff Lincoln on Decorating a 1960s Town House," 11 Apr. 2012 By the way, the Stella of the film’s title is a beautiful old dog in her dying days, a touchstone of grace lacking in her human family. — Tom Keogh, The Seattle Times, "‘Stella’s Last Weekend’: Dog brings only grace to ill-conceived family affair," 25 Oct. 2018 Since the 1980s, the group’s writings have emphasized the heterogeneity of Caribbean history, the fundamental contiguity of life and literature with ecology, and a tradition of oral storytelling that has become the touchstone of Chamoiseau’s oeuvre. — New York Times, "Fleeing a Caribbean Plantation Into a Mythic Wilderness," 27 June 2018 To a generation of sports fans in the Bay Area, Clark would forever be a touchstone. — Chris Ballard, SI.com, "In Montana, a 49ers Reunion for Dwight Clark," 2 May 2018 Dangerous Visions has been hailed as a defining touchstone of the New Wave movement. — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, "Harlan Ellison, one of science fiction’s most controversial authors, has died," 28 June 2018 Watergate has long been the touchstone for modern American scandal, the mountain of misconduct against which all others are judged. — James Freeman, WSJ, "Where in the World Was Barack Obama?," 18 May 2018

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.