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Webster 1913 Edition
Fetish
{ }
Fe′tich
,Fe′tish
,Noun.
[F. , sorcery, charm, fr. L.
fétiche
, from Pg. feiti[GREEK]o
, adj., Noun.
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)
- Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman. [from the early 17th c.]
- 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.
- (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).
Related terms
Translations
something nonsexual which arouses sexual desire
something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers
irrational or abnormal fixation