Standard Lemma guide

touchstone

name · noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈtʌt͡ʃstəʊn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: T AH1 CH S T OW2 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A stone used to verify the quality of gold alloys by rubbing them in order to leave a visible trace.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A standard of comparison or evaluation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, figuratively

Examples

  • Near-synonym: comparator

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: comparator

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the schools comply with federal standards
  • they set the measure for all subsequent work

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: standard, criterion, measure

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: system of measurement, metric

Narrower terms: benchmark, earned run average, ERA, grade point average, GPA, procrustean standard, procrustean rule, procrustean bed, yardstick, medium of exchange, monetary system, scale, scale of measurement, graduated table, ordered series, gauge, standard of measurement, baseline, norm

History

Etymology

From touch + stone.

Across languages

Translations

79 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مِحَكّ (miḥakk) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Armenian: փորձաքար (pʻorjakʻar) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Old Armenian: սմպատակ (smpatak) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Basque: froga-harri — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Bulgarian: пробен камък (proben kamǎk) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Burmese: မှတ်ကျောက် (hmatkyauk) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Catalan: pedra de toc — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Chinese Mandarin: 試金石 /试金石 (shìjīnshí) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Czech: prubířský kámen — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Danish: prøvesten — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Dutch: toetssteen — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Finnish: koetinkivi — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • French: touchau — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Galician: pedra de toque — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • German: Prüfstein — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • German: Probierstein — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Greek: λυδία λίθος (lydía líthos) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Hindi: कसौटी (kasauṭī) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Hindi: मापदंड (māpdaṇḍ) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Hindi: निकष (nikaṣ) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Hindi: निकषण (nikṣaṇ) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Hindi: परस (paras) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Hindi: पारस (pāras) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Hindi: शान (śān) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Hindi: सान (sān) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Hindi: स्पर्शमणि (sparśamṇi) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Hungarian: próbakő — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Icelandic: prófsteinn — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Italian: pietra di paragone — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Japanese: 試金石 (shikin seki) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Korean: 시금석 (sigeumseok) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Norwegian Bokmål: prøvestein — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: prøvestein — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Persian: سنگ محک — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Polish: kamień probierczy — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Portuguese: pedra de toque — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Russian: проби́рный ка́мень (probírnyj kámenʹ) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Serbo-Croatian: пробни камен — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Serbo-Croatian: probni kamen — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Spanish: piedra de toque — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Spanish: toque — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Swedish: probersten — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Swedish: prövosten — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Tamil: உரைகல் (uraikal) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Turkish: denek taşı — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Turkish: mihenk — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Turkish: mihenk taşı — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Ottoman Turkish: مهنك (mehenk) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Ukrainian: пробірний камінь (probirnyj kaminʹ) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Yiddish: אבֿן־בוחן (evn-boykhn) — stone used to test the quality of gold alloys
  • Armenian: չափանիշ (čʻapʻaniš) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Armenian: փորձաքար (pʻorjakʻar) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Bulgarian: критерий (kriterij) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 試金石 /试金石 (shìjīnshí) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Dutch: maatstaf — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Dutch: toetssteen — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Finnish: koetinkivi — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • French: pierre de touche — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Galician: pedra de toque — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • German: Prüfstein — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Greek: βάσανος (vásanos) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Hindi: मापदंड (māpdaṇḍ) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Hindi: मानदंड (māndaṇḍ) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Hindi: पैमाना (paimānā) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Hindi: परीक्षा (parīkṣā) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Hindi: कसौटी (kasauṭī) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Hindi: निकषण (nikṣaṇ) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Hungarian: ismérv — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Hungarian: kritérium — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Italian: pietra di paragone — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Japanese: 試金石 (shikin seki) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Korean: 기준 (gijun) — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Polish: probierz — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Portuguese: pedra de toque — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Spanish: norma — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Swedish: prövosten — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Turkish: denek taşı — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Turkish: mihenk — standard of comparison or evaluation
  • Turkish: mihenk taşı — standard of comparison or evaluation