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touchstone

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Touchstone
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touch⋅stone

  [tuhch-stohn]
Use touchstone in a Sentence
–noun
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.
Origin:
1475–85; touch + stone

Synonyms:
1. standard, measure, model, pattern.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Touchstone
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touch·stone   (tŭch'stōn')   
n.  

  1. A hard black stone, such as jasper or basalt, formerly used to test the quality of gold or silver by comparing the streak left on the stone by one of these metals with that of a standard alloy.

  2. An excellent quality or example that is used to test the excellence or genuineness of others: "the qualities of courage and vision that are the touchstones of leadership" (Henry A. Kissinger). See Synonyms at standard.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

touchstone 
1481, from touch (v.) + stone. Black quartz, used for testing the quality of gold and silver alloys by the color of the streak made by rubbing them on it. Fig. sense is from 1533.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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