Tactile

How to spell tactile

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce tactile

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tactile mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to or perceived through the sense of touch.

Tactile in a sentence

• The museum added a tactile exhibit so visitors could feel the textures of ancient pottery.

• The new phone case has a tactile surface that stops it slipping from your hand.

Where does tactile come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb tangere, meaning 'to touch', whose past participle was tactus. From that came the adjective tactilis, meaning 'able to be touched' or 'relating to touch'. English adopted tactile in the early 1600s, borrowing it through French, to describe anything perceived or experienced by the sense of touch. The same tangere root spreads widely through English: it sits inside 'contact' (touching together), 'tangent', 'tangible', and even 'intact' (literally untouched). Remembering that the core is tact, the same syllable found in those relatives, helps fix the spelling and steer writers away from doubling letters or guessing a different ending.

How the word is built

• tact- (from Latin tactus 'touch', the past participle of tangere 'to touch')
• -ile (adjective suffix: capable of or relating to)