touchstone
/ˈtʌt͡ʃstəʊn/
"touchstone" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“touchstone” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #35,119 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #35,119
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A stone used to verify the quality of gold alloys by rubbing them in order to leave a visible trace.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | touchstone |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtʌt͡ʃstəʊn/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #35,119 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “touchstone” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for touchstone is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtʌt͡ʃstəʊn/. Corpus data places it at rank #35,119 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for touchstone, with forms such as "otuchstone", "tocuhstone", and "toucchstone". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From touch + stone. The correct English form is touchstone, spelled T-O-U-C-H-S-T-O-N-E.
Definition
- 1A stone used to verify the quality of gold alloys by rubbing them in order to leave a visible trace.
- 2A standard of comparison or evaluation.
Etymology
From touch + stone.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: otuchstone,tocuhstone,toucchstone,touchhstone,touchsotne,touchsstone,touchstnoe,touchstoen,touchstonne,touchsttone,touchtsone,toucshtone,touhcstone,ttouchstone,tuochstone
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of touchstone - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "touchstone"?
What does "touchstone" mean?
What are common misspellings of "touchstone"?
How do you pronounce "touchstone"?
What is the origin of the word "touchstone"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “touchstone”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-O-U-C-H-S-T-O-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtʌt͡ʃstəʊn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.