touchstone

(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.

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Subtitled A Saturday Journal of Criticism, Commentary, and Satire, was published weekly in Melbourne 1869-70. Henry Kendall, who was in Melbourne, was briefly its editor; it published literary articles and reviews but its tone was largely satirical. A later weekly of the same title, with some literary content, was published briefly in Ballarat at the end of 1883, edited by 'Tom Touchstone' (Thomas Bury), and was a considerable influence on the radical poet Bernard O'Dowd.

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For more information on touchstone, visit Britannica.com.

noun

A means by which individuals are compared and judged: benchmark, criterion, gauge, mark, measure, standard, test, yardstick. See usual/unusual.

touchstone, a short quotation from a recognized poetic masterpiece, employed as a standard of instant comparison for judging the value of other works. The term was used by the English poet and critic Matthew Arnold in his essay ‘The Study of Poetry’ (1880), in which he recommends certain lines of Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Milton as touchstones for testing ‘the presence or absence of high poetic quality’ in samples chosen from other poets. Arnold's claim that this procedure is ‘objective’ has not been accepted by many modern critics. Literally, a touchstone is a hard stone of the kind once used for testing the quality of gold or silver. See also criterion.

For a list of words related to touchstone, see:

• Sedimentary rocks

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See words rhyming with "touchstone."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Touchstone.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - probersten, prøvesten

Nederlands (Dutch)
toetssteen

Français (French)
n. - (lit, fig) pierre de touche

Deutsch (German)
n. - Prüfstein, Strichstein

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - βασανίτης, λυδία λίθος, (μτφ.) ασφαλές κριτήριο

Italiano (Italian)
pietra di paragone

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pedra de toque (f), teste de qualidade ou habilidade (m)

Русский (Russian)
критерий, пробирный камень, твердая порода камня (базальт, гранит)

Español (Spanish)
n. - piedra de toque

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - probersten, prövosten, kriterium

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
试金石, 标准

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 試金石, 標準

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 시금석, 기준

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 試金石, 規準

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) محك ألذهب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אבן-צפחה כהה המשמשת לבחינת סגסוגות זהב וכו', אבן-בוחן, קריטריון‬

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