Touches

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈtʌt͡ʃɪz/

Definitions

1. Comes into light physical contact with something or someone ; influences or affects feelings or emotions deeply
2. Lightly contacts or brushes against a surface or person ; excites an emotional or sensitive response in someone
3. Physically grazes or presses gently upon an object or individual ; moves or alters the emotions or sensitivities of a person

Etymology: "Touches" is simply the third-person singular present of the verb "touch" (and the plural of the noun), so its history is that of "touch" itself. The verb came into Middle English from Old French "tochier," meaning to touch, which descends from a Vulgar Latin word "tuccō" meaning to knock or strike. That Latin verb was borrowed from a Frankish word meaning to knock or strike, and the chain goes back to a Proto-Germanic sense of tugging or grasping. The most surprising link is that "touch" is a doublet of "tuck," the same root arriving in English by two separate routes. Its older relatives show the original physical sense clearly: Old English "tucian" meant to disturb or mistreat, and German "zucken" today means to jerk or flinch. The notion of a quick tug or poke sits underneath the gentler modern meaning of light contact. Old English "hrīnan," the native word that "touch" largely displaced in Middle English, survives only as the rare modern "rine."

Synonyms: contacts, feels, prods, taps, brushes

Antonyms: avoids, ignores, shuns, neglects, disregards