Online Etymology Dictionary

touch-screen (n.): 1974, from touch + screen (n.).
touch-up (n.): "act of improvement requiring modest effort," 1872, from verbal phrase touch up "improve or finish (as a painting or drawing) with light strokes" (1715), from touch (v.) + up (adv.).
touchdown (n.): 1864, originally in rugby, where the ball is literally touched down on the other side of the goal, from verbal phrase (by 1859 in sports), from touch (v.) + down (adv.). As "landing of an aircraft" from 1935.
touche: exclamation acknowledging a hit in fencing, 1902, from French touché, past participle of toucher "to hit," from Old French touchier "to hit" (see touch (v.)). Extended (non-fencing) use by 1907.
touched (adj.): "stirred emotionally," mid-14c., past participle adjective from touch (v.).
touching (adj.): "affecting the emotions," c. 1600, present participle adjective from touch (v.).
touching (prep.): "concerning, regarding," late 14c., from touch (v.), on model of French touchant.
touchpoint (n.): c. 1600, from touch + point (n.).
touchstone (n.): late 15c., from touch (v.) in the Middle English sense "to test" (metal) + stone (n.). Fine-grained black quartz, used for testing the quality of gold and silver alloys by the color of the streak made by rubbing them on it. Also see basalt. Figurative sense is from 1530s.
touchwood (n.): 1570s, from touch (v.) + wood, probably from the notion of being set alight at the touch of a spark.
touchy (adj.): "apt to take offense at slight provocation," c. 1600, perhaps an alteration of tetchy (q.v.) influenced by touch (v.). Related: Touchiness.
tough (adj.): Old English toh "strong and firm in texture, tenacious, sticky," from Proto-Germanic *tanhu- (source also of Middle Low German tege, Middle Dutch taey, Dutch taai, Old High German zach, German zäh), which Watkins suggests is from PIE *denk- "to bite," from the notion of "holding fast." See rough for spelling change.

From c. 1200 as "strong, powerful;" c. 1300 as "not tender or fragile;" early 14c. as "difficult to chew," also "hard to endure." Figurative sense of "steadfast" is mid-14c.; that of "hard to do, trying, laborious" is from 1610s. Verb tough it "endure the experience" is first recorded 1830, American English. Tough guy attested from 1901. Tough-minded first recorded 1907 in William James. Tough luck first recorded 1912; tough shit, dismissive retort to a complaint, is from 1946.
tough (n.): "street ruffian," 1866, American English, from tough (adj.).
toughen (v.): 1580s, from tough (adj.) + -en (1). Related: Toughened; toughening.
toughness (n.): mid-15c., from tough (adj.) + -ness.
toupee (n.): 1727, from French toupet "tuft of hair, forelock," diminutive formed from Old French top "tuft, forelock, topknot" (12c.), from Frankish *top or another Germanic source related to top (n.1) "highest point." Originally an artificial curl or lock on the top of the head; a style, not necessarily a compensation for baldness. In 18c., also sometimes used of a person who wears a toupee. Slang short form toup is recorded from 1959.
tour (n.): c. 1300, "a turn, a shift on duty," from Old French tor, tourn, tourn "a turn, trick, round, circuit, circumference," from torner, tourner "to turn" (see turn (v.)). Sense of "a continued ramble or excursion" is from 1640s. Tour de France as a bicycle race is recorded in English from 1916 (Tour de France Cycliste), distinguished from a motorcar race of the same name. The Grand Tour, a journey through France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy formerly was the finishing touch in the education of a gentleman.
tour (v.): 1746, "make a tour, travel about," from tour (n.). Related: Toured; touring.
tour de force (n.): "feat of strength," 1802, French; see tour (n.) + force (n.).
tourism (n.): 1811, from tour (n.) + -ism.
tourist (n.): 1772, "one who makes a journey for pleasure, stopping here and there" (originally especially a travel-writer), from tour (n.) + -ist. Tourist trap attested from 1939, in Graham Greene. Related: Touristic.
tourmaline (n.): complete silicate of aluminum and boron, 1759, from French or German, ultimately from Sinhalese toramalli, a general name for cornelian.
tournament (n.): "medieval martial arts contest," c. 1200 (figurative), c. 1300 (literal), from Old French tornement "contest between groups of knights on horseback" (12c.), from tornoier "to joust, tilt, take part in tournaments" (see tourney). Modern use, in reference to games of skill, is recorded from 1761.
tournedos (n.): fillet of steak dish, 1877, from French, from tourner "to turn" (see turn (v.)) + dos "back." According to French etymologists, "so called because the dish is traditionally not placed on the table but is passed behind the backs of the guests" [OED]. But there are other theories.
tourney (v.): c. 1300, from Anglo-French turneier, Old French tornoier "to joust, tilt," literally "turn around," from Vulgar Latin *tornizare, from Latin tornare "to turn" (see turn (v.)). Related: Tourneying.
tourney (n.): c. 1300, from Anglo-French turnei, Old French tornei "contest of armed men" (12c., Modern French tournoi), from tornoier "to joust, tilt" (see tourney (v.)).
tourniquet (n.): 1690s, from French tourniquet "surgical tourniquet," also "turnstile" (16c.), diminutive of torner "to turn," from Old French torner (see turn (v.)).
tousle (v.): "pull roughly, disorder, dishevel," mid-15c., frequentative of -tousen "handle or push about roughly," probably from an unrecorded Old English *tusian, from Proto-Germanic *tus- (source also of Frisian tusen, Old High German erzusen, German zausen "to tug, pull, dishevel"); related to tease (v.). Related: Tousled; tousling.
Toussaint (n.): French, literally "feast of All Saints" (Nov. 1), from tous, plural of tout "all" + saint "saint."
tout (v.): 1700, thieves' cant, "to act as a lookout, spy on," from Middle English tuten "to peep, peer," probably from a variant of Old English totian "to stick out, peep, peer," from Proto-Germanic *tut- "project" (source also of Dutch tuit "sprout, snout," Middle Dutch tute "nipple, pap," Middle Low German tute "horn, funnel," Old Norse tota "teat, toe of a shoe"). The sense developed to "look out for jobs, votes, customers, etc., to try to get them" (1731), then "praise highly in an attempt to sell" (1920). Related: Touted; touting.
tow (v.): "pull with a rope," Old English togian "to drag, pull," from Proto-Germanic *tugojanan (source also of Old English teon "to draw," Old Frisian togia "to pull about," Old Norse toga, Old High German zogon, German ziehen "to draw, pull, drag"), from PIE root *deuk- "to pull, draw" (source also of Latin ducere "to lead;" see duke (n.)). Related: Towed; towing.
tow (n.1): "the coarse, broken fibers of flax, hemp, etc., separated from the finer parts," late 14c., probably from Old English tow- "spinning" (in towlic "fit for spinning," tow-hus "spinning-room"), perhaps cognate with Gothic taujan "to do, make," Middle Dutch touwen "to knit, weave," from Proto-Germanic *taw- "to manufacture" (see taw (v.)).
tow (n.2): c. 1600, "rope used in towing," from tow (v.). Meaning "act or fact of being towed" is from 1620s.
tow-truck (n.): 1920, from tow (v.) + truck (n.).
toward (prep.): Old English toweard "in the direction of," prepositional use of toweard (adj.) "coming, facing, approaching," from to (see to) + -ward.
towards (adv.): Old English toweards, from toweard (adj.) "coming, facing, approaching" (see toward) + adverbial genitive ending.
towaway (adj.): also tow-away, 1956 in reference to parking zones, from verbal phrase, from tow (v.) + away (adv.).
towel (n.): mid-13c., from Old French toaille (12c.), from Frankish *thwahlja, from Proto-Germanic *thwahlijan (source also of Old Saxon thwahila, Middle Dutch dwale "towel," Dutch dwaal "altar cloth," Old High German dwehila "towel," German dialectal Zwehle "napkin"); related to German zwagen, Old English þwean "to wash." Spanish toalla, Italian tovaglia are Germanic loan-words. To throw in the towel "admit defeat" (1915) is from boxing.
towel (v.): 1836 (transitive); 1861 (intransitive), from towel (n.). Related: Towelled; towelling.
towelette (n.): 1896, originally a trade name, from towel (n.) + -ette.
tower (n.1): Old English torr "tower, watchtower," from Latin turris "a tower, citadel, high structure" (also source of Old French tor, 11c.; Spanish, Italian torre "tower"), possibly from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language. Meaning "lofty pile or mass" is recorded from mid-14c. Also borrowed separately 13c. as tour, from Old French tur; the modern spelling (1520s) represents a merger of the two forms.
tower (v.): c. 1400, "rise high" (implied in towered); see tower (n.). Also, of hawks, "to fly high so as to swoop down on prey" (1590s). Related: Towering.
tower (n.2): "one who tows," 1610s, agent noun from tow (v.).
towhead (n.): also tow-head, in reference to tousled blond hair, 1830, from tow (n.1) + head (n.). Related: Towheaded.
towhee (n.): marsh-robin, 1730, so called for the note of its cry.
town (n.): Old English tun "enclosure, garden, field, yard; farm, manor; homestead, dwelling house, mansion;" later "group of houses, village, farm," from Proto-Germanic *tunaz, *tunan "fortified place" (source also of Old Saxon, Old Norse, Old Frisian tun "fence, hedge," Middle Dutch tuun "fence," Dutch tuin "garden," Old High German zun, German Zaun "fence, hedge"), an early borrowing from Celtic *dunon "hill, hill-fort" (source also of Old Irish dun, Welsh din "fortress, fortified place, camp," dinas "city," Gaulish-Latin -dunum in place names), from PIE *dhu-no- "enclosed, fortified place, hill-fort," from root *dheue- "to close, finish, come full circle" (see down (n.2)).

Meaning "inhabited place larger than a village" (mid-12c.) arose after the Norman conquest from the use of this word to correspond to French ville. The modern word is partially a generic term, applicable to cities of great size as well as places intermediate between a city and a village; such use is unusual, the only parallel is perhaps Latin oppidium, which occasionally was applied even to Rome or Athens (each of which was more properly an urbs).

First record of town hall is from late 15c. Town ball, version of baseball, is recorded from 1852. Town car (1907) originally was a motor car with an enclosed passenger compartment and open driver's seat. On the town "living the high life" is from 1712. Go to town "do (something) energetically" is first recorded 1933. Man about town "one constantly seen at public and private functions" is attested from 1734.
townhouse (n.): 1825, "a residence in a town," from town + house (n.) from a time when well-off families had country houses as well. As a type of suburban attached housing, c. 1968, American English.
townie (n.): also townee "townsman, one raised in a town," 1827, often opposed to the university students or circus workers who were just passing through, from town + -ie.
township (n.): Old English tunscipe "inhabitants or population of a town;" see town + -ship. Applied in Middle English to "manor, parish, or other division of a hundred." Specific sense of "local division or district in a parish, each with a village or small town and its own church" is from 1530s; as a local municipal division of a county in U.S. and Canada, first recorded 1685. In South Africa, "area set aside for non-whites" from 1934.
townspeople (n.): 1640s, from genitive of town + people.