fetishism

or fet·ich·ism

[ fet-i-shiz-uh m, fee-ti- ]

/ ˈfɛt ɪˌʃɪz əm, ˈfi tɪ- /

noun

belief in or use of fetishes.

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.

blind devotion: a fetishism of sacrifice to one's children.

Nearby words

feticide, fetid, fetidly, fetiparous, fetish, fetichism, fetishist, fetishize, fetlock, feto-, fetoglobulin

Origin of fetishism

First recorded in 1795–1805; fetish + -ism

Related formsfet·ish·ist, nounfet·ish·is·tic, adjectivefet·ish·is·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fetichism

According to Pausanias, this fetichism (if fetichism it is) was primary, in Greece.
Custom and Myth|Andrew Lang
The early cultivator of philosophy emerges with difficulty from fetichism.
History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2)|John William Draper
Fetichism, M. Rville also says, is logically a later belief.
The Non-religion of the Future: A Sociological Study|Jean-Marie Guyau
They are curious in their symbols of fetichism, and have an attraction that one can scarcely explain.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement

Messrs. Mller and Spencer are agreed that fetichism is one of the later forms of religion, and decline to treat it as primitive.
The Non-religion of the Future: A Sociological Study|Jean-Marie Guyau

British Dictionary definitions for fetichism

fetishism

fetichism

/ (ˈfɛtɪˌʃɪzəm, ˈfiː-) /

noun

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

belief in or recourse to a fetish for magical purposes

excessive attention or attachment to something

Derived Formsfetishist or fetichist, nounfetishistic or fetichistic, adjective

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 fetichism

fetishism

1801, "worship of fetishes;" in the purely psycho-sexual sense first recorded 1897 in writings of Henry Havelock Ellis (1859-1939), from fetish + -ism.

In certain perversions of the sexual instinct, the person, part of the body, or particular object belonging to the person by whom the impulse is excited, is called the fetish of the patient. [E. Morselli in "Baldwin Dictionary of Philosophy," 1901]

Related: Fetishist (1845; psycho-sexual sense from 1897).

Medicine definitions for fetichism

fetishism

[ fĕt′ĭ-shĭz′əm, fē′tĭ- ]

n.

The act of using a fetish for sexual arousal and gratification.