fetishism

American  

[fet-i-shiz-uhm, fee-ti-] / ˈfɛt ɪˌʃɪz əm, ˈfi tɪ- /

Or fetichism

noun

1. belief in or use of fetishes.

2. Psychiatry. the compulsive use of some object, or part of the body, as a stimulus in the course of attaining sexual gratification, as a shoe, a lock of hair, or underclothes.

3. blind devotion.

   a fetishism of sacrifice to one's children.

---

fetishism British  

/ ˈfɛtɪˌʃɪzəm, ˈfiː- /

noun

1. a condition in which the handling of an inanimate object or a specific part of the body other than the sexual organs is a source of sexual satisfaction

2. belief in or recourse to a fetish for magical purposes

3. excessive attention or attachment to something

---

Other Word Forms

• fetishist
  noun
• fetishistic
  adjective
• fetishistically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of fetishism

First recorded in 1795–1805; fetish + -ism

Example Sentences

Then she wrote a book on black magic, called Fetishism in Africa, which drew cheers from French scientists.

From Time Magazine Archive

Fetishism prevails, with spiritualism, and Wilson thinks that mediums might pick up some good tricks in Guinea.

From The Making of Religion by Lang, Andrew

Fetishism logically needs, in some of its aspects, the doctrine of spirits, and Theism, in what we take to be its earliest known form, does not logically need the doctrine of spirits as given matter.

From The Making of Religion by Lang, Andrew

The Theological period has itself three stages, in which Fetishism, Polytheism, and Monotheism successively prevail.

From The Idea of Progress An inguiry into its origin and growth by Bury, J. B. (John Bagnell)

If we go far enough back into the ages of primeval Fetishism, it becomes manifest that originally Deity, Chief, and Master of the ceremonies were identical.

From Essays on Education and Kindred Subjects Everyman's Library by Spencer, Herbert