fetish
English
WOTD – 8 October 2008
Alternative forms
- fetich (dated [18th c.–present])
Etymology
Borrowed from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço, from Latin factīcius (“artificial”). Doublet of factitious.
Pronunciation
Noun
fetish (plural fetishes)
- Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman. [from the early 17th c.]
- Sexual attraction to or arousal at something sexual or nonsexual, such as an object or a part of the body. [from the early 19th c.]
- 1985, Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale:
- 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.
- I know a guy who has a foot fetish.
- a fetish for leather
- 1985, Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale:
- (US) An irrational, or abnormal fixation or preoccupation; an obsession. [from the 19th c.]
- a fetish for deficit reduction
- 1933, George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London (Harvest / Harcourt paperback edition), chapter XXII, page 117:
- 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.
Related terms
Derived terms
Translations
something nonsexual which arouses sexual desire
something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers
irrational or abnormal fixation
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