fetishism

or fet·ich·ism

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

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.

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. 2018

Examples from the Web for fetichism

Historical Examples of fetichism

I did not think one could be an archaeologist and yet not believe in fetichism.
Balthasar
Anatole France
Fetichism, M. Rville also says, is logically a later belief.
The Non-religion of the Future: A Sociological Study
Jean-Marie Guyau
The Christians of the middle ages, Dr. Draper says, “were immersed in fetichism.”
The Christ
John Eleazer Remsburg
Dread of these leads to worship, fetichism, and animism, the beginning of religion.
The Wonders of Life
Ernst Haeckel
The constraint of spirits by fear or violence is characteristic of Fetichism.
The Origin of Man and of his Superstitions
Carveth Read

British Dictionary definitions for fetichism

fetishism

fetichism

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).

fetichism in Medicine

fetishism

[fĕt′ĭ-shĭz′əm, fē′tĭ-]

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