fetish

or fet·ich

[fet-ish, fee-tish]

noun

an object regarded with awe as being the embodiment or habitation of a potent spirit or as having magical potency.
any object, idea, etc., eliciting unquestioning reverence, respect, or devotion: to make a fetish of high grades.
Psychology. any object or nongenital part of the body that causes a habitual erotic response or fixation.

Origin of fetish

1605–15; earlier fateish < Portuguese feitiço charm, sorcery (noun), artificial (adj.) < Latin factīcius factitious; replacing fatisso, fetisso < Portuguese, as above

Related formsfet·ish·like, adjective

Synonyms for fetish

1. talisman, amulet.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for fetich

Historical Examples of fetich

As with the Hunter, so with the Warrior, the fetich is fed on the life-blood of the slain.
Zui Fetiches
Frank Hamilton Cushing
Then, taking out the fetich, he breathes on it and from it, and exclaims "Si!"
Zui Fetiches
Frank Hamilton Cushing
The other was drawn from a sketch made by myself of a fetich in Zuñi.
Zui Fetiches
Frank Hamilton Cushing
His fetich is, therefore, preferred by the hunter of these animals.
Zui Fetiches
Frank Hamilton Cushing
I remembered in time that he did not know we called it the Fetich.
We Ten
Lyda Farrington Kraus

British Dictionary definitions for fetich

fetish

fetich

noun

something, esp an inanimate object, that is believed in certain cultures to be the embodiment or habitation of a spirit or magical powers
1. a form of behaviour involving fetishism
2. any object that is involved in fetishism
any object, activity, etc, to which one is excessively or irrationally devotedto make a fetish of cleanliness

Derived Formsfetish-like or fetich-like, adjective

Word Origin for fetish

C17: from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço (n) sorcery, from adj: artificial, from Latin factīcius made by art, factitious

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fetich

fetish

1610s, fatisso, from Portuguese feitiço "charm, sorcery," from Latin facticius "made by art," from facere "to make" (see factitious).

Latin facticius in Spanish has become hechizo "magic, witchcraft, sorcery." Probably introduced by Portuguese sailors and traders as a name for charms and talismans worshipped by the inhabitants of the Guinea coast of Africa. Popularized in anthropology by C. de Brosses' "Le Culte des Dieux Fétiches" (1760), which influenced the word's spelling in English (French fétiche, also from the Portuguese word). Figurative sense of "something irrationally revered" is American English, 1837.

Any material image of a religious idea is an idol; a material object in which force is supposed to be concentrated is a Fetish; a material object, or a class of material objects, plants, or animals, which is regarded by man with superstitious respect, and between whom and man there is supposed to exist an invisible but effective force, is a Totem. [J. Fitzgerald Lee, "The Greater Exodus," London, 1903]

For sexual sense, see fetishism.

fetich in Medicine

fetish

[fĕt′ĭsh, fē′tĭsh]

Something, such as an object or nonsexual part of the body, that arouses sexual desire and may become necessary for sexual gratification.
An abnormally obsessive preoccupation or attachment.

fetich in Culture

fetish

An object believed to carry a magical or spiritual force. Some so-called primitive tribes practice cult worship of fetishes. (See animism (see also animism) and totemism.)

Note

Figuratively, a “fetish” is any object that arouses excessive devotion: “Lucille made a fetish of her Porsche.”