To come into contact with something, especially with the hand or finger; to affect emotionally.
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Old French13th centurywell-attested
From Middle English 'touchen,' borrowed from OldFrench 'tochier, touchier' (to touch, to hit, to knock), from Vulgar Latin *toccāre (to knock, to strike, to tap), probably of imitative or expressive origin representing the sound of a knock or tap. Some scholarspropose a pre-Roman Gaulish substrate form; others see it as a late Latin expressive formation. Theword displaced the native Old English 'hrīnan' (to touch) and
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The musical term 'toccata' — a fast, virtuosic keyboard composition — comes from the same Vulgar Latin *toccāre. A toccata is literally a 'touched' piece, named for the rapid touching of keys. Bach's famous Toccata andFugue in D minor is, etymologically, a 'touching and fleeing.'