ˈtouch-piece
[f. touch v. or n. + piece n.]
1. A coin or medal (originally a gold angel, in later times specially struck for the purpose in gold or silver) given by the sovereign to each person touched for the ‘king's evil’ (touch v. 2 b).
| 1844 Chron. Seasons ii. 26 Touch-pieces were a sort of coins, of which the king, when he touched a person in order to cure the evil, used to hang one round the neck of the patient. 1855 Smedley, etc. Occult Sc. 341 The touch-pieces were generally preserved with great care, and worn as amulets. 1908 Athenæum 20 June 769/1 There are varieties of gold and silver touch-pieces of the time of James II. |
2. A piece of mechanism operated by a touch.
| 1897 Daily News 7 June 6/4 The observer taps a little touch-piece by the side of the instrument, and this movement is conveyed by galvanic wire to the chronograph. |
3. A piece of music designed to exhibit the touch of the performer, a toccata. (nonce-use.)
| 1900 New Cent. Rev. VII. 394 A Toccata (or touch-piece). |