fetish

also fet·ich (fĕt'ĭsh, fē'tĭsh)
n.

1. An object that is believed to have magical or spiritual powers, especially such an object associated with animistic or shamanistic religious practices.
2. An object of unreasonably excessive attention or reverence: made a fetish of punctuality.
3. Something, such as a material object or a nonsexual part of the body, that arouses sexual desire and may become necessary for sexual gratification.
4. 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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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 17th century adoption of French fétiche, and was originally an African object or amulet having magical power, although the word itself is not of African origin.

2. Fowler (1926) extended the use of fetish as a term for 'current literary rules misapplied or unduly revered'. These included the split infinitive, insistence on from after different, aversion to putting a preposition at the end of a sentence, and the idea that two consecutive metaphors are necessarily 'mixed' (see metaphor and simile ²). To these may now be added the use of hopefully as a sentence adverb, insistence that none is always singular, and insistence that agenda, data, and other such words are always plural. (Capital letters indicate items that will be found as other entries in this book.)

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For more information on fetish, visit Britannica.com.

noun

1. A small object worn or kept for its supposed magical power: amulet, charm, juju, periapt, phylactery, talisman. See supernatural.
2. An irrational preoccupation: fixation, mania, obsession. Informal thing. See concern/unconcern.

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

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

For a list of words related to fetish, see:

• Perversions, Fetishes, and Titillations - fetish: sexual obsession with a specific object or usu. nonerogenous body part
• Rites, Practices, Spells, and Symbols - fetish: superstitious belief in object’s magical or supernatural powers; object of such belief

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See words rhyming with "fetish."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Fetish.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - fetich, dille

Nederlands (Dutch)
fetisj, aanbidding van een fetisj, magisch object, (seksuele) fixatie

Français (French)
n. - (Psych) fétiche, (Anthrop) fétiche, objet de culte

Deutsch (German)
n. - Fetisch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - φετίχ, αντικείμενο πόθου

Italiano (Italian)
feticcio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - fetiche (m)

Русский (Russian)
фетиш, идол, идеализация

Español (Spanish)
n. - fetiche

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - fetisch

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
物神, 偶像, 迷信

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 物神, 偶像, 迷信

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 물신, 미신의 재상

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 呪物, 物神, 盲目的崇拝の対象

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) صنم , معبود , ولع , طقس ديني‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חפץ המהווה מושא לתשוקה מינית, פטיש, אליל‬

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