Touchstone

Touchstone
Touchstone Touch"stone`, n. 1. (Min.) Lydian stone; basanite; -- so called because used to test the purity of gold and silver by the streak which is left upon the stone when it is rubbed by the metal. See {Basanite}. [1913 Webster]

2. Fig.: Any test or criterion by which the qualities of a thing are tried. --Hooker. [1913 Webster]

The foregoing doctrine affords us also a touchstone for the trial of spirits. --South. [1913 Webster]

{Irish touchstone} (Min.), basalt, the stone which composes the Giant's Causeway. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Touchstone — Pictures (engl. touchstone = „Prüfstein”), auch bekannt als Touchstone Films, ist eine US amerikanische Filmproduktionsfirma mit Firmensitz in Burbank, Kalifornien, die zur Walt Disney Company gehört. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Firmengeschichte 2… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • TouchStone — is a 1980s rock band out of Vienna, Austria. The group was made up of founding member and singer/song writer Dain Turner, guitarist Hossein Yasery Manesh, keyboardist Christian Skokan, bassist Günter Kopler, and drummer Alfred Vollbauer. In 1982… …   Wikipedia

  • touchstone — index standard Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • touchstone — (n.) late 15c., from TOUCH (Cf. touch) (v.) + STONE (Cf. stone) (n.). Black quartz, used for testing the quality of gold and silver alloys by the color of the streak made by rubbing them on it. Cf. also BASALT (Cf. basalt). Figurative sense is… …   Etymology dictionary

  • touchstone — *criterion, *standard, gauge, yardstick Analogous words: test, proof, trial, demonstration (see under PROVE) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • touchstone — ► NOUN 1) a piece of fine grained dark schist or jasper formerly used for testing alloys of gold by observing the colour of the mark which they made on it. 2) a standard or criterion …   English terms dictionary

  • touchstone — [tuch′stōn΄] n. 1. a type of black stone formerly used to test the purity of gold or silver by the streak left on it when it was rubbed with the metal 2. any test of genuineness or value …   English World dictionary

  • Touchstone — A touchstone is a small tablet of dark stone such as fieldstone, slate, or lydite, used for assaying precious metal alloys. It has a finely grained surface on which soft metals leave a visible trace.Probing with a touchstoneBy rubbing a metal on… …   Wikipedia

  • touchstone — /tuch stohn /, n. 1. a test or criterion for the qualities of a thing. 2. a black siliceous stone formerly used to test the purity of gold and silver by the color of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with either metal. [1475 85; TOUCH +… …   Universalium

  • Touchstone — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Touchstone peut désigner: Le studio de cinéma Touchstone Pictures La filiale télévision de ce studio Touchstone Television renommé ABC Television Studio… …   Wikipédia en Français

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