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)
- 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.
- (bowls) A ball lying in contact with the jack.
- (Geordie, derogatory) A toucha; one who tries to get something out of others for nothing in return.
Derived terms
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
Noun
toucher m (plural touchers)
Verb
toucher
- (transitive) to touch (physically)
- Ne me touche pas ! ― Don't touch me!
- (transitive) to affect
- La maladie touche actuellement 2 millions de personnes. ― The disease currently affects 2 million people.
- (transitive) to receive, to get; to earn (money)
- Synonym: gagner
- (transitive with à) to try, to try out
- Je n’ai jamais touché au tabac. ― I've never tried tobacco.
- (informal, transitive with en) to know a thing or two about
- 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 | – | – | – | ||||
| 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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
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.
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 | – | – | – | ||||
| 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
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