fetish
or fet·ich
[fet-ish, fee-tish]
- 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.
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Origin of fetish
1605–15; earlier fateish < Portuguese feitiço charm, sorcery (noun), artificial (adj.) < Latin factīcius factitious; replacing fatisso, fetisso < Portuguese, as above
Synonyms
See more synonyms for fetish on Thesaurus.com1. talisman, amulet.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for fetich
Historical Examples
Then, taking out the fetich, he breathes on it and from it, and exclaims "Si!"
Zui FetichesFrank Hamilton Cushing
The other was drawn from a sketch made by myself of a fetich in Zuñi.
Zui FetichesFrank Hamilton Cushing
As with the Hunter, so with the Warrior, the fetich is fed on the life-blood of the slain.
Zui FetichesFrank Hamilton Cushing
His fetich is, therefore, preferred by the hunter of these animals.
Zui FetichesFrank Hamilton Cushing
I remembered in time that he did not know we called it the Fetich.
We TenLyda Farrington Kraus
fetish
fetich
- something, esp an inanimate object, that is believed in certain cultures to be the embodiment or habitation of a spirit or magical powers
- a form of behaviour involving fetishism
- any object that is involved in fetishism
- any object, activity, etc, to which one is excessively or irrationally devotedto make a fetish of cleanliness
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Word Origin
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
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
fetish
Note
Figuratively, a “fetish” is any object that arouses excessive devotion: “Lucille made a fetish of her Porsche.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.