Touchstone

//ˈtʌt͡ʃstəʊn// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A stone used to verify the quality of gold alloys by rubbing them in order to leave a visible trace.
  2. 2
    a basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated wordnet
  3. 3
    A standard of comparison or evaluation. broadly, figuratively

    "Near-synonym: comparator"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
standardacid testassaybarometerbenchmarkblank determination

Example

More examples

"The forebearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual uses it, is the test of a true gentleman."

Etymology

From touch + stone.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.