fetish

fetish
fetish 1610s, fatisso, from Port. feitiço "charm, sorcery," from L. facticius "made by art," from facere "to make" (see FACTITIOUS (Cf. factitious)). L. 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 (Fr. fétiche, also from the Portuguese word). Figurative sense of "something irrationally revered" is Amer.Eng. 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 (Cf. fetishism).

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • fetish — 1. Fetish, meaning ‘a thing evoking special respect’ (and more precise meanings in anthropology and psychology), is now pronounced fet ish. The word is a 17c adoption of French fétiche, and was originally an African object or amulet having… …   Modern English usage

  • fetish — [n1] obsession bias, craze*, desire, fixation, golden calf*, idée fixe, leaning, luck, mania, partiality, penchant, periapt, predilection, prejudice, preoccupation, prepossession, proclivity, propensity, stimulant, thing*; concepts 529,689 fetish …   New thesaurus

  • fetish — [fet′ish; ] also [ fēt′ish] n. [Fr fétiche < Port feitiço, a charm, sorcery; orig. adj. < L facticius, made by art, FACTITIOUS] 1. any object believed by some person or group to have magic power 2. any thing or activity to which one is… …   English World dictionary

  • Fetish — Fe tish, n., Fetishism Fe tish*ism (? or ?; 277), n., Fetishistic Fe tish*is tic, a. See {Fetich}, n., {Fetichism}, n., {Fetichistic}, a. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • fetish — index compulsion (obsession), obsession Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • fetish — /ingl. ˈfɛtɪʃ/ [vc. ingl. di orig. port., propr. «feticcio»] A s. m. inv. (psicol.) feticismo B agg. inv. (psicol.) feticista, feticistico …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

  • fetish — ► NOUN 1) an inanimate object worshipped for its supposed magical powers. 2) a form of sexual desire in which gratification is focused abnormally on an object, part of the body, or activity. 3) a course of action to which one has an excessive and …   English terms dictionary

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