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Webster 1913 Edition


Fetish

{

Fe′tich

,

Fe′tish

,
Noun.
}
[F.
fétiche
, from Pg.
feiti[GREEK]o
, adj.,
Noun.
, sorcery, charm, fr. L.
facticius
made by art, artifical, factitious. See
Factitious
.]
1.
A material object supposed among certain African tribes to represent in such a way, or to be so connected with, a supernatural being, that the possession of it gives to the possessor power to control that being.

Definition 2024


fetish

fetish

English

Alternative forms

  • fetich (dated [18th C.–present])

Noun

fetish (plural fetishes)

  1. Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman. [from the early 17th c.]
  2. Something sexual or nonsexual, such as an object or a part of the body, which arouses sexual desire or is necessary for one to reach full sexual satisfaction. [from the early 19th c.]
    I know a guy who has a foot fetish.
  3. (US) An irrational, or abnormal fixation or preoccupation. [from the 19th c.]
    • 1933: 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. -- George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, Ch. XXII, pg. 117 (Harvest / Harcourt paperback edition).

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