Etymograph

English

touch

Touch comes from Middle English touchen, from Old French tochier, from Vulgar Latin *tuccō ‘to knock’, from Frankish *tukkōn, ultimately PIE *dewk-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dewk-1‘to draw, pull’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tukkōną1‘to tug, grab’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*tukkōn1‘to knock, strike, touch’reconstructed
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*tuccō1‘to knock, strike’reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tochier1‘to touch’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500touchen1‘to touch’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1526touch1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English touch
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Men of Israhell take hede to youreselves what ye…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dewk-Wiktionary, English touch‘to draw, pull’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tukkōnąWiktionary, English touch‘to tug, grab’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*tukkōnWiktionary, English touch‘to knock, strike, touch’reconstructed
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*tuccōWiktionary, English touch‘to knock, strike’reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tochierWiktionary, English touch‘to touch’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500touchenWiktionary, English touch‘to touch’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1526touchWiktionary, English touch. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Men of Israhell take hede to youreselves what ye…”

The story

Largely displaced native Middle English rinen, from Old English hrīnan (whence Modern English rine).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dewk- ‘to pull, to draw’

team, education, production, product, produce, tie, reduce, duke, introduction, conduct, reduction, introduce, toy, educate, tying, dolphin, induction, tighten, tug, conn, tow, induce, duchess, deduction, duct, tuck, educator, conducive, seduce, douche, 136 more

Today it means

verb To make physical contact with; to bring the hand, finger or other part of the body into contact with.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “touch”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dewk- / touch

Shirt and support for this word