fetish en · NOUN
Pronunciation
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 *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos 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.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) 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.
1958, Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King:
-
(countable, dated, qualifier:animism, uncountable) 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.
1860, George Eliot, chapter VI, in The Mill on the Floss, Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons:"It is not difficult for a negro to believe that he is a Zombie, and a very bad one at that. The step to Baron Samedi is simple. Mr. Big encourages the idea by having the Baron's fetish at his elbow. You saw it in his room."
1954, Ian Fleming, “Allumeuse”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 110:
-
(countable, uncountable) Sexual fixation to or arousal at something abnormally sexual or non-sexual, such as an object or a non-sexual part of the body.
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.
1985, Margaret Atwood, “Soul Scrolls”, in The Handmaid’s Tale, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland and Stewart, →ISBN, page 163:I know a guy who has a foot fetish.
-
(countable, uncountable) An irrational or abnormal preoccupation or fixation on some object or activity; an obsession.
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.
1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXII, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:He has been talking about the same topic for hours on end, I suspect he may have a fetish
A leading candidate for this role in the case of women has been the soap fetish.[…]Given this general cultural background the reasons for the rise of the soap fetish are not hard to find.[…]Guilt, as one of the propellers of the soap fetish, does not confine its thrust to the desire to wash dirty hands or erase the blots from the copybook.
2014 [1980], John Carroll, “The soap fetish”, in Sceptical Sociology, page 124:The most amusing was the Wastebasket Era, which combined the stacking fetish with a container fixation.
2010, Mark Osteen, One of Us: A Family's Life with Autism:A locavore (local plus the -vore of carnivore, etc.) is someone who makes a fetish of eating locally produced food.
2019, Barry Blake, English Vocabulary Today: Into the 21st Century:However, I am not prone to sensitiveness, and the following of a sense of duty, wherever it may lead, has always been a kind of fetich with me throughout my life; which may account for the honors bestowed upon me by three republics and the decorations and friendships of an old and powerful emperor and several lesser kings, in whose service my sword has been red many a time.
1912 February–July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Under the Moons of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “On the Arizona Hills”, in A Princess of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., October 1917, →OCLC, page 6:
- (countable, uncountable) A recurrent theme of a specific thing.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| fetich | alternative, archaic | lexicographic | |
| fetishes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
fetishize · fetish mining · fetishise · commodity fetish · fet · fetishization · fetishlike · finish fetish · fetishic · fetishisation · fetishy · fetishist · fetish priest · fetish-adjacent · fetishistic · fetishism · hypnofetish · fetish-man · foot fetish · fetish bean · factish · fetishwear · fetisher · clean fetish
Synonyms
Translations (76)
el βίτσιο (irrational or abnormal fixation) · cs fetiš (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · hu fétis (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · bg куми́р (irrational or abnormal fixation) · sh фетиш (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · fi fetissi (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · da fetich (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · sh fetiš (irrational or abnormal fixation) · de Fetisch (irrational or abnormal fixation) · bg амуле́т (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · fr fétiche (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · pl fetysz (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · ru куми́р (irrational or abnormal fixation) · nl fetisj (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · bg фети́ш (irrational or abnormal fixation) · eu fetitxe (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · de Fetisch (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · it feticismo (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · el φετίχ (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · pt fetiche (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · lt fetišas (irrational or abnormal fixation) · fr fétiche (irrational or abnormal fixation) · cmn 迷戀 /迷恋 (irrational or abnormal fixation) · ro fetiș (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · ru фети́ш (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · pt fetiche (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · sh fetiš (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · fr fétiche (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · da fetich (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · hu fétis (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · el βίτσιο (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · ja フェティッシュ (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · ru фети́ш (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · it feticcio (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · bg муска́ (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · hy ֆետիշ (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · hy ֆետիշ (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · sh фетиш (irrational or abnormal fixation) · sh fetiš (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · tr fetiş (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · ru амуле́т (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · fi fetišši (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · fi fetišši (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · ja フェティシズム (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · ka ფეტიში (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · es fetiche (irrational or abnormal fixation) · de Fetisch (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · cmn 戀物 /恋物 (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · es fetiche (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · fi taikakalu (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · hy ֆետիշ (irrational or abnormal fixation) · fi päähänpinttymä (irrational or abnormal fixation) · sv fetisch (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · srn obia (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · eo fetiĉo (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · tr fetiş (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · ca fetitxe (irrational or abnormal fixation) · ru и́дол (irrational or abnormal fixation) · ja フェチ (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · ko 페티시즘 (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · fi fetissi (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · ga feitis (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · ko 페티시 (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · uk фети́ш (irrational or abnormal fixation) · pl fetysz (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · srn wisi (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · srn tapu (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · cmn 物神 (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · ru фети́ш (irrational or abnormal fixation) · lt fetišas (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · ca fetitxe (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · es fetiche (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · eu fetitxe (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · vi ái vật (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire) · hu bálvány (something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers) · sh фетиш (something non-sexual which arouses sexual desire)