touchés

Touchés is a term used in sport fencing to denote a successful hit on an opponent. The word comes from the French toucher, meaning “touched.” In fencing discourse, touché can refer to the act of scoring a hit, or to the signal given by a judge or the scoring system that a touch has been recorded. The plural touchés is used to refer to multiple scored touches, and the term is sometimes used rhetorically in conversation to acknowledge a clever counter.

In competition, a touch occurs when a fencer makes a valid hit on the opponent’s target area with a weapon, and the scoring system registers the hit. The specifics depend on the weapon. Foil targets the torso (the trunk), excluding the arms, head, and legs. Epee targets the entire body, from head to toe. Sabre targets the upper body above the waist, including the arms and head. Foil and sabre employ right-of-way rules to determine which fencer scores when both land a touch in close succession; epee has no right-of-way, so both fencers can score simultaneously in a double touch.

Scoring equipment includes electronically connected weapons and protective gear that detect touches and relay scores to the scoreboard. The term thus encompasses both the act of landing a valid touch and the formal signal that a touch has occurred, across the three fencing disciplines.