fetish

fetish
fetishlike, adj.
/fet"ish, fee"tish/, n.
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. Psychol. any object or nongenital part of the body that causes a habitual erotic response or fixation.
Also, fetich.
[1605-15; earlier fateish < Pg feitiço charm, sorcery (n.), artificial (adj.) < L facticius FACTITIOUS; r. fatisso, fetisso < Pg, as above]
Syn. 1. talisman, amulet.

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Object believed to have magical power to protect or aid its owner, and by extension, an object regarded with superstitious or extravagant trust or reverence.

In the 18th century it was applied to West African amulets; it has also been used for various items in American Indian religion. In psychology, a fetish is an object that substitutes for a person as the focus of sexual desire. See also fetishism.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • fetish — fetish, talisman, charm, amulet are comparable when they designate an object believed to be endowed with the virtue of averting evil or of bringing good fortune. Fetish is applied to an object, either natural (as a snake or an animal s tooth or… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Fetish — may refer to:*Fetishism, the attribution of religious or mystical qualities to inanimate objects *Sexual fetishism, sexual attraction to materials and objects not conventionally viewed as being sexual in nature * Fetish (album) (1999), by Joan… …   Wikipedia

  • Fetish — kann verschiedene Bedeutungen haben die südafrikanische Band, siehe Fetish (Band) der Musiker DJ Fetish engl. Schreibweise für Sexueller Fetischismus Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • fetish — 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 17c adoption of French fétiche, and was originally an African object or amulet having… …   Modern English usage

  • fetish — 1610s, fatisso, from Port. feitiço charm, sorcery, from L. facticius made by art, from facere to make (see FACTITIOUS (Cf. factitious)). L. facticius in Spanish has become hechizo magic, witchcraft, sorcery. Probably introduced by Portuguese… …   Etymology dictionary

  • fetish — [n1] obsession bias, craze*, desire, fixation, golden calf*, idée fixe, leaning, luck, mania, partiality, penchant, periapt, predilection, prejudice, preoccupation, prepossession, proclivity, propensity, stimulant, thing*; concepts 529,689 fetish …   New thesaurus

  • fetish — [fet′ish; ] also [ fēt′ish] n. [Fr fétiche < Port feitiço, a charm, sorcery; orig. adj. < L facticius, made by art, FACTITIOUS] 1. any object believed by some person or group to have magic power 2. any thing or activity to which one is… …   English World dictionary

  • Fetish — Fe tish, n., Fetishism Fe tish*ism (? or ?; 277), n., Fetishistic Fe tish*is tic, a. See {Fetich}, n., {Fetichism}, n., {Fetichistic}, a. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • fetish — index compulsion (obsession), obsession Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • fetish — /ingl. ˈfɛtɪʃ/ [vc. ingl. di orig. port., propr. «feticcio»] A s. m. inv. (psicol.) feticismo B agg. inv. (psicol.) feticista, feticistico …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

  • fetish — ► NOUN 1) an inanimate object worshipped for its supposed magical powers. 2) a form of sexual desire in which gratification is focused abnormally on an object, part of the body, or activity. 3) a course of action to which one has an excessive and …   English terms dictionary

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