tactile

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French tactile, from Latin tactilis (“that may be touched, tangible”), from tangere (“to touch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtæktaɪl/, /ˈtæktəl/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æktəl

Adjective

tactile (comparative more tactile, superlative most tactile)

1. Tangible; perceptible to the sense of touch.

   tactile method of reading

2. Used for feeling.
3. Of or relating to the sense of touch.
   • 1892, William James, Psychology (Briefer Course)

     The delicacy of the tactile sense varies on different parts of the skin; it is greatest on the forehead, temples and back of the forearm.

   tactile illusion

4. Prone to touching people or things.

Derived terms

• audiotactile
• chemotactile
• electrotactile
• entactogen
• mechanotactile
• nontactile
• orotactile
• pedotactile
• pneumotactile
• Protactile
• tactile ground surface indicator
• tactilely
• tactile necrophiliac
• tactile paving
• tactile paving slab
• tactile walking surface indicator
• tactility
• tactilize
• tactilometric
• tactilometry
• teletactile
• teletactility
• thermotactile
• untactile
• vibrotactile
• visuotactile

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *teh₂g- (2 c, 0 e)

Translations

tangible

• Bulgarian: осезателен (bg) (osezatelen)
• Catalan: tàctil
• Danish: taktil, følbar
• French: tactile (fr)
• Galician: táctil (gl)
• German: fühlbar (de)
• Greek: απτός (el) m (aptós), ψηλαφητός (el) m (psilafitós)
• Manx: bentynagh
• Portuguese: tátil (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian: опипљив m (opipljiv), тактилан m (taktilan)
• Spanish: táctil (es)
• Turkish: elle tutulur

used for feeling

• Bulgarian: осезателен (bg) (osezatelen)
• Catalan: tàctil
• German: taktil (de)
• Greek: αισθητός (el) m (aisthitós)
• Turkish: dokunulur

of, or relating to the sense of touch

• Asturian: táctil
• Bulgarian: тактилен (taktilen)
• Catalan: tàctil
• Danish: taktil
• Galician: táctil (gl)
• German: fühlbar (de), (medicine, psychology) taktil (de)
• Greek: απτός (el) m (aptós)
• Indonesian: taktil (id)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: taktil

  Nynorsk: taktil

• Occitan: tactil (oc)
• Polish: dotykowy (pl)
• Spanish: táctil (es)
• Turkish: dokunsal (tr), dokunmayla ilgili, (medicine) taktil, dokunma duyusuna ilişkin, dokunma duyusuyla algılanabilen

See also

• haptic
• palpable
• touchable

Further reading

• “tactile”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “tactile”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “tactile”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• lattice, talcite

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tāctilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tak.til/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adjective

tactile (plural tactiles)

1. tactile
2. haptic

Derived terms

• écran tactile
• pavé tactile
• tactilement

Further reading

• “tactile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Adjective

tāctile

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of tāctilis