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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

fet·ish

Audio Help [fet-ish, fee-tish] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	an object regarded with awe as being the embodiment or habitation of a potent spirit or as having magical potency.

2.	any object, idea, etc., eliciting unquestioning reverence, respect, or devotion: to make a fetish of high grades.

3.	Psychology. any object or nongenital part of the body that causes a habitual erotic response or fixation.

Also, fetich.

[Origin: 1605–15; earlier fateish < Pg feitiço charm, sorcery (n.), artificial (adj.) < L factīcius factitious; r. fatisso, fetisso < Pg, as above

]

—Related forms

fet·ish·like, adjective

—Synonyms 1. talisman, amulet.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
fetish

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fet·ish also fet·ich Audio Help (fět'ĭsh, fē'tĭsh) Pronunciation Key
n.

An object that is believed to have magical or spiritual powers, especially such an object associated with animistic or shamanistic religious practices.
An object of unreasonably excessive attention or reverence: made a fetish of punctuality.
Something, such as a material object or a nonsexual part of the body, that arouses sexual desire and may become necessary for sexual gratification.
An abnormally obsessive preoccupation or attachment; a fixation.

[French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço, artificial, charm, from Latin factīcius, artificial; see factitious.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fetish

1613, fatisso, from Port. fetiço "charm, sorcery," originally feitiço "made artfully, artificial," from L. facticius "made by art," from facere "to make" (see factitious). L. facticius in Sp. has become hechizo "magic, witchcraft, sorcery." Probably introduced by Port. 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 Eng. (Fr. fétiche, also from the Port. word). Figurative sense of "something irrationally revered" is Amer.Eng. 1837. Fetishism in the purely psycho-sexual sense first recorded 1897 in writings of Henry Havelock Ellis (1859-1939).

"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]

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

fetish
noun
1.	a form of sexual desire in which gratification depends to an abnormal degree on some object or item of clothing or part of the body; "common male fetishes are breasts, legs, hair, shoes, and underwear"
2.	a charm superstitiously believed to embody magical powers [syn: juju]
3.	excessive or irrational devotion to some activity; "made a fetish of cleanliness"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
fetish1 [ˈfetiʃ] noun

an object worshipped, especially because a spirit is supposed to lodge in it

Arabic:	تَميمَه
Chinese (Simplified):	偶像
Chinese (Traditional):	偶像
Czech:	fetiš
Danish:	fetich
Dutch:	fetisj
Estonian:	fetiš
Finnish:	taikakalu
French:	fétiche
German:	der Fetisch
Greek:	ξόανο
Hungarian:	bálvány, fétis
Icelandic:	blæti; skurðgoð
Indonesian:	pujaan, jimat
Italian:	feticcio

Japanese:	物神
Korean:	물신(物神)
Latvian:	fetišs
Lithuanian:	fetišas
Norwegian:	fetisj
Polish:	fetysz
Portuguese (Brazil):	fetiche
Portuguese (Portugal):	amuleto
Romanian:	fetiş
Russian:	амулет
Slovak:	fetiš
Slovenian:	fetiš
Spanish:	fetiche
Swedish:	fetisch
Turkish:	tapınılan nesne, fetiş

fetish2 [ˈfetiʃ] noun

something which is regarded with too much reverence or given too much attention
Example: It is good to dress well, but there is no need to make a fetish of it.

Arabic:	يُبالِغ في إحْتِرام شَيء لِدَرَجَة العِبادَه
Chinese (Simplified):	迷恋
Chinese (Traditional):	迷戀物
Czech:	modla
Danish:	mani
Dutch:	fetisj
Estonian:	kinnismõte
Finnish:	pakkomielle
French:	obsession
German:	der Fetisch
Greek:	φετίχ
Hungarian:	fétis, (igével: fetisizál)
Icelandic:	trúaratriði, átrúnaðaratriði
Indonesian:	obsesi
Italian:	fissazione, mania

Japanese:	盲目的な崇拝
Korean:	맹신의 대상
Latvian:	pielūgsmes objekts
Lithuanian:	stabas, dievaitis
Norwegian:	besettelse
Polish:	obsesja
Portuguese (Brazil):	obsessão
Portuguese (Portugal):	obrigação, *obsessão, mania
Romanian:	obsesie
Russian:	фетиш
Slovak:	modla
Slovenian:	fetiš
Spanish:	obsesión
Swedish:	mani, dille, sjukligt begär
Turkish:	çok fazla önemsenen şey

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
fetish

An object believed to carry a magical or spiritual force. Some so-called primitive tribes practice cult worship of fetishes. (See animism and totemism.)

Note: Figuratively, a “fetish” is any object that arouses excessive devotion: “Lucille made a fetish of her Porsche.”

[Chapter:] Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fet·ish (ftsh, ftsh)
n.

Something, such as an object or a nonsexual part of the body, that arouses sexual desire and may become necessary for sexual gratification.
An abnormally obsessive preoccupation or attachment.

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry: fe·tish
Variant: also fe·tich /'fet-ish also 'fEt-/
Function: noun
: an object or bodily part whose real or fantasized presence is psychologically necessary for sexual gratification and that is an object of fixation to the extent that it may interfere with complete sexual expression

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fetish

Fe"tish\, n., Fetishism \Fe"tish*ism\ (? or ?; 277), n.,

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