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fetish

noun
/ˈfɛt.ɪʃ/UK

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin faciō Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tos Latin -tus Latin factus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -īcus Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -īcius Latin factīcius Portuguese feitiçobor. French fétichebor. English fetish Borrowed from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço, from Latin factīcius (“artificial”). Doublet of factitious.

  1. derived from factīcius
  2. derived from feitiço
  3. borrowed from fétiche

Definitions

  1. Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers

    Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman.

    • The idols and fetishes were being dressed up and whitewashed, receiving sacrifices.

  2. A figure representing the spirit of a deity, human, or animal

    A figure representing the spirit of a deity, human, or animal; an idol or voodoo doll.

    • This was the trunk of a large wooden doll […] now entirely defaced by a long career of vicarious suffering. […] The last nail had been driven in with a fiercer stroke than usual, for the Fetish on that occasion represented aunt Glegg

  3. Sexual fixation to or arousal at something abnormally sexual or nonsexual, such as an…

    Sexual fixation to or arousal at something abnormally sexual or nonsexual, such as an object or a nonsexual part of the body.

    • I know a guy who has a foot fetish.
    • a fetish for leather
    • The first time, I was confused. His needs were obscure to me, and what I could perceive of them seemed to me ridiculous, laughable, like a fetish for lace-up shoes.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. An irrational or abnormal preoccupation or fixation on some object or activity

      An irrational or abnormal preoccupation or fixation on some object or activity; an obsession.

      • He has been talking about the same topic for hours on end, I suspect he may have a fetish
      • We have a feeling that it must be "honest" work, because it is hard and disagreeable, and we have made a sort of fetish of manual work.

    2. A recurrent theme of a specific thing.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for fetish. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA