toucher

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: -ʌtʃə(ɹ)

Noun

toucher (plural touchers)

1. One who touches.
   • 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 4, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 25:

     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. (Geordie, derogatory) A toucha; one who tries to get something out of others for nothing in return.

Derived terms

• child toucher
• near as a toucher

Anagrams

• Hectour, hectour, retouch

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French toucher, from Old French tochier, from Vulgar Latin *toccāre, *tuccāre (“to strike; to touch”), probably of Germanic origin, or onomatopoetic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tu.ʃe/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• 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)

   Ne me touche pas ! ― Don't touch me!

2. (transitive) to affect

   La maladie touche actuellement 2 millions de personnes. ― The disease currently affects 2 million people.

3. (transitive) to receive, to get; to earn (money)

   Synonym: gagner

4. (intransitive) to try, to try out [with à ‘something’]

   Je n’ai jamais touché au tabac. ― I've never tried tobacco.

5. (intransitive, informal) to know a thing or two [with en ‘about something’]

   Ce mec est un ancien critique d’art. Je peux te dire qu’il touche en peinture! ― This guy is a former art critic. Believe me, he knows a thing or two about painting!

Conjugation

Conjugation of toucher (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	toucher
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	touchant /tu.ʃɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		touché /tu.ʃe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	touche /tuʃ/	touches /tuʃ/	touche /tuʃ/	touchons /tu.ʃɔ̃/	touchez /tu.ʃe/	touchent /tuʃ/
	imperfect	touchais /tu.ʃɛ/	touchais /tu.ʃɛ/	touchait /tu.ʃɛ/	touchions /tu.ʃjɔ̃/	touchiez /tu.ʃje/	touchaient /tu.ʃɛ/
	past historic2	touchai /tu.ʃe/	touchas /tu.ʃa/	toucha /tu.ʃa/	touchâmes /tu.ʃam/	touchâtes /tu.ʃat/	touchèrent /tu.ʃɛʁ/
	future	toucherai /tuʃ.ʁe/	toucheras /tuʃ.ʁa/	touchera /tuʃ.ʁa/	toucherons /tuʃ.ʁɔ̃/	toucherez /tuʃ.ʁe/	toucheront /tuʃ.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	toucherais /tuʃ.ʁɛ/	toucherais /tuʃ.ʁɛ/	toucherait /tuʃ.ʁɛ/	toucherions /tu.ʃə.ʁjɔ̃/	toucheriez /tu.ʃə.ʁje/	toucheraient /tuʃ.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	touche /tuʃ/	touches /tuʃ/	touche /tuʃ/	touchions /tu.ʃjɔ̃/	touchiez /tu.ʃje/	touchent /tuʃ/
	imperfect2	touchasse /tu.ʃas/	touchasses /tu.ʃas/	touchât /tu.ʃa/	touchassions /tu.ʃa.sjɔ̃/	touchassiez /tu.ʃa.sje/	touchassent /tu.ʃas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	touche /tuʃ/	—	touchons /tu.ʃɔ̃/	touchez /tu.ʃe/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• ne pas en toucher une
• nitouche
• pas touche
• toucher à sa fin
• toucher du bois
• toucher le fond
• toucher sa bille
• toucher terre
• toucher un mot

 

Descendants

• → Dutch: toucheren
• → German: touchieren

References

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

Further reading

• “toucher”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French tochier.

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.

Conjugation of toucher

infinitive	simple	toucher
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	touchant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		touché
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	touche	touches	touche	touchons	touchez	touchent
	imperfect	touchois, touchoys	touchois, touchoys	touchoit, touchoyt	touchions, touchyons	touchiez, touchyez	touchoient, touchoyent
	past historic	toucha	touchas	toucha	touchasmes	touchastes	toucherent
	future	toucherai, toucheray	toucheras	touchera	toucherons	toucherez	toucheront
	conditional	toucherois, toucheroys	toucherois, toucheroys	toucheroit, toucheroyt	toucherions, toucheryons	toucheriez, toucheryez	toucheroient, toucheroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	touche	touches	touche	touchons	touchez	touchent
	imperfect	touchasse	touchasses	touchast	touchassions	touchassiez	touchassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	touche	—	touchons	touchez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: toucher
  • → Dutch: toucheren
  • → German: touchieren
• → German: tuschen